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Sexual Harassment
Verified 31 mars 2020 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice
Sexual harassment is an offense, regardless of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. However, the law provides specific protection during sexual harassment for private employees, public officials and trainees.
General case
Sexual harassment is characterized by repeatedly imposing words or behaviors on a person with a sexual or sexist connotation that:
- offend his dignity by virtue of their degrading or humiliating character,
- or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against it.
Sexual harassment includes any form of severe pressure (even if not repeated) for the real or apparent purpose of obtaining a sexual act, for the benefit of the perpetrator or a third party.
In both cases, sexual harassment is punished regardless of the relationship between the perpetrator and his victim, even outside the professional environment (harassment by a relative, a neighbor....).
If the perpetrator had physical contact with you, it could be a sexual assault, which is a more severe offense than sexual harassment.
If your situation requires urgent intervention by the police, you can alert the police or the gendarmerie.
In case of emergency, and only in this situation, it is possible to alert the police or the gendarmerie by telephone call, or by SMS if you are unable to speak.
By phone
In an emergency, when a rapid response is required, you must call the emergency police.
Who shall I contact
Rescue police - 17
By phone
Dial 17 in the event of an emergency involving a traffic accident, a disturbance of public order or a criminal offense. A team of policemen or gendarmes will visit the site.
You can also dial 112..
If there is no emergency, call your police station or gendarmerie number.
By SMS
You can also send a free SMS to the 114.. If you cannot speak (danger, disability), you will then communicate in writing with your correspondent.
European emergency number - 112
112
Emergency number to be used for a call from a European country or from a mobile phone
24x7
Free call
By SMS
If you have difficulty hearing or speaking, you can also send an SMS to the 114.. You will then communicate in writing with your correspondent.
Who shall I contact
Emergency number for people who cannot call - 114
114
By SMS
Free 24/7
By emergency application 114
Free 24/7
Contact possible via:
- Visiophony
- Chat
- Voice / Text Return
Through the Internet portal http://www.urgence114.fr
Free 24/7
Contact possible via:
- Visiophony
- Chat
- Voice / Text Return
Instant messaging (chat) allows you to chat with police or gendarmerie personnel. At any time, the chat history can be deleted from your computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Report sexual or gender harassment
Ministry of the Interior
You can file before the criminal justice system within 6 years of the last act (gesture, speech...) of harassment. Justice will take into account all the elements constituting harassment even if the facts took place over several years.
On site
You must contact a police station or gendarmerie of your choice.
Who shall I contact
You cannot be denied receipt of the complaint.
The complaint is then transmitted to the public prosecutor by the police or the gendarmerie.
By mail
You can lodge a complaint directly with the public prosecutor. We need to send free paper letter the court of the place of the offense or the place of residence of the offender.
The letter must include the following:
- Civil status and full contact information (address and telephone number) of the complainant
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Assumed author's name if you know him (otherwise the complaint will be filed against X)
- Names and addresses of potential witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or final injury estimate
- Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, various invoices, findings .....
- Willingness to take part in civil proceedings
Make a complaint to the public prosecutor
Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Dila) - Prime Minister
Who shall I contact
You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by simple letter. You can also file your complaint directly at the court reception. In all cases, a receipt will be given to you as soon as the public prosecutor's office has registered your complaint.
If the complaint is dismissed, you can file a filing of complaint..
You can get legal assistance.
Who shall I contact
To the extent that gender is one of the prohibited discrimination criteria under the law, you may also refer the matter to the Ombudsman.
Who shall I contact
Advocate
By telephone (general information)
09 69 39 00 00
Local Call Cost
Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm
By mail (to enter the Defender of Rights) By free mail, without postage
Advocate
Free answer 71120
75342 Paris cedex 07
Attention: attach to your mail copies of the documents relating to your referral.
By Email
Access to contact form
Sexual harassment is an offense punishable by:
- 2 years' imprisonment,
- and €30,000 fine.
These sentences can be increased to 3 years imprisonment and €25,000 where the acts are committed:
- by a person who abuses the authority conferred upon him by his office;
- a minor under 15 years of age;
- on a person whose particular vulnerability, due to his age, illness, infirmity, physical or mental disability or pregnancy, is apparent or known to the perpetrator;
- on a person whose particular vulnerability or dependence resulting from the precariousness of his economic or social situation is apparent or known to the author;
- by several persons acting as an author or accomplice;
- through the use of an online public communication service or through a digital or electronic medium;
- a minor was present and attended;
- by an ascendant or by any other person having legal or de facto authority over the victim.
The perpetrator of sexual harassment may also be sentenced to pay damages to his victim.
Work
Sexual harassment is characterized by imposing on a person, repeatedly, remarks or conduct having a sexual or sexist connotation, which:
- offend his dignity by virtue of their degrading or humiliating character,
- or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against it.
Sexual harassment also occurs when such statements or behaviors are imposed on the same victim by several persons, in a concerted manner or at the instigation of one of them, even though each of these persons has not acted repeatedly.
The same applies when the words or behaviors are imposed on the same victim, successively, by several people who, even in the absence of consultation, know that these words or behaviors characterize a repetition.
Moreover, any form of serious pressure (even if not repeated) exerted for the real or apparent purpose of obtaining a sexual act, to the benefit of the perpetrator or a third party, is also considered to be sexual harassment.
In the workplace, sexual harassment occurs even if there is no hierarchical relationship between the victim and the perpetrator (between colleagues of the same level, of different services...)
If the perpetrator had physical contact with you, it may be a sexual assault, more severely punished.
If your situation requires urgent intervention by the police, you can alert the police or the gendarmerie.
In case of emergency, and only in this situation, it is possible to alert the police or the gendarmerie by telephone call, or by SMS if you are unable to speak.
By phone
In an emergency, when a rapid response is required, you must call the emergency police.
Who shall I contact
Rescue police - 17
By phone
Dial 17 in the event of an emergency involving a traffic accident, a disturbance of public order or a criminal offense. A team of policemen or gendarmes will visit the site.
You can also dial 112..
If there is no emergency, call your police station or gendarmerie number.
By SMS
You can also send a free SMS to the 114.. If you cannot speak (danger, disability), you will then communicate in writing with your correspondent.
European emergency number - 112
112
Emergency number to be used for a call from a European country or from a mobile phone
24x7
Free call
By SMS
If you have difficulty hearing or speaking, you can also send an SMS to the 114.. You will then communicate in writing with your correspondent.
Who shall I contact
Emergency number for people who cannot call - 114
114
By SMS
Free 24/7
By emergency application 114
Free 24/7
Contact possible via:
- Visiophony
- Chat
- Voice / Text Return
Through the Internet portal http://www.urgence114.fr
Free 24/7
Contact possible via:
- Visiophony
- Chat
- Voice / Text Return
Instant messaging (chat) allows you to chat with police or gendarmerie personnel. At any time, the chat history can be deleted from your computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Report sexual or gender harassment
Ministry of the Interior
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In the private sector
If you are a victim of sexual harassment at work, you can report the incident to staff representatives and the Social and Economic Committee.. You cannot be punished for denouncing these facts, unless the denunciation is based on imaginary facts.
In the Public Service
You can use the system for reporting violence, discrimination, moral or sexual harassment and gender-based activities in the public service. This mechanism must be put in place in each administration by 1to May 2020. It provides for appropriate procedures to collect reports and to guide the officer declaring himself a victim or witness.
The Head of Service shall inform the officer under his authority of the existence of the reporting device and of its use. and its procedures.
The system must guarantee the strict confidentiality of information transmitted by the victim or witness when processing the report.
Against the perpetrator
You can file a criminal complaint within 6 years after the last act (gesture, speech...) of harassment. Justice will take into account all the elements constituting harassment even if the facts took place over several years.
On site
You must contact a police station or gendarmerie of your choice.
Who shall I contact
You cannot be denied receipt of the complaint.
The complaint is then transmitted to the public prosecutor by the police or the gendarmerie.
By mail
You can lodge a complaint directly with the public prosecutor. We need to send free paper letter the court of the place of the offense or the place of residence of the offender.
The letter must include the following:
- Civil status and full contact information (address and telephone number) of the complainant
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Assumed author's name if you know him (otherwise the complaint will be filed against X)
- Names and addresses of potential witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or final injury estimate
- Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, various invoices, findings .....
- Willingness to take part in civil proceedings
Make a complaint to the public prosecutor
Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Dila) - Prime Minister
Who shall I contact
You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by simple letter. You can also file your complaint directly at the court reception. In all cases, a receipt will be given to you as soon as the public prosecutor's office has registered your complaint.
If the complaint is dismissed, you can file a filing of complaint..
You can get legal assistance.
Who shall I contact
Against the employer
In the private and public sectors, the employer must take all necessary measures to prevent acts constituting sexual harassment. To this end, it shall bring to the attention of its employees the laws against sexual harassment.
If the harassment was committed in the workplace, a specific procedure may apply in addition to the victim's complaint:
- if you are in the private sector, you can also enter the prud'homme council in order to obtain compensation,
- if you are a public officer, you can pursue the same objectives by entering the administrative tribunal.. You can also benefit from the functional protection..
You can conduct one of these proceedings at the same time as a criminal complaint. The complaint may be filed without the victim being required to inform his employer. These two separate actions and can be aimed at different people: for example, you can sue the CEO of your company in the prud'homme and your department manager, the perpetrator, in the criminal case. Your employer will then be tried for not having protected you sufficiently.For example, you can sue the CEO of your company in the case of the prud'homme and your department manager, the author of the facts, in the case of criminal proceedings. Your employer will then be judged for not protecting you sufficiently.
The employer will have to show that the facts presented by you do not constitute sexual harassment.
Persons who denounce sexual harassment or fight against it cannot be punished or dismissed.
Please note : in a company, any representative trade union organization may, with the written consent of the harassed person, take legal action in its place.
Referral by the Ombudsman
To the extent that gender is one of the criteria for discrimination prohibited by law, and that work is one of the situations in which discrimination is sanctioned, you can also refer the matter to the Ombudsman both with regard to the perpetrator and with regard to the employer.
Who shall I contact
Advocate
By telephone (general information)
09 69 39 00 00
Local Call Cost
Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm
By mail (to enter the Defender of Rights) By free mail, without postage
Advocate
Free answer 71120
75342 Paris cedex 07
Attention: attach to your mail copies of the documents relating to your referral.
By Email
Access to contact form
Sexual harassment is an offense that can be punished up to:
- 2 years in prison,
- and €30,000 fine.
In the event of abuse of authority (for example by a superior), penalties may be imposed up to:
- 3 years in prison,
- and €25,000 fine.
These aggravated penalties shall also apply where sexual harassment has been committed:
- on a person whose particular vulnerability due to an illness, infirmity, physical or mental disability or pregnancy is apparent or known to the perpetrator;
- on a person whose particular vulnerability or dependence resulting from the precariousness of his economic or social situation is apparent or known to the author;
- by several persons acting as an author or accomplice.
The perpetrator of sexual harassment may also be sentenced to pay damages to his victim, in compensation for his injury.
In addition, any private sector employee who has engaged in sexual harassment is liable to disciplinary sanctions..
The same applies to any public official responsible for the same acts, according to the public sector sanction procedures..