Dignity and Discrimination in Sexual Harassment Law: A French Case Study

In 2012, France adopted new prohibitions on sexual harassment into its Labor and Penal Codes. That enactment, which significantly broadened the definition of actionable harassment, was based on a model of harassment law that defines sexual harassment as a form of discrimination, while the French have traditionally conceived of sexual harassment as a form of sexual violence. Cases decided under the new prohibitions, as well as additional legislation adopted in France in 2016 and 2018, the latter prompted by France’s “#MeToo” movement, suggest that the French are beginning to perceive sexual harassment as implicating issues of both dignity and equality and that the underlying foundation for the prohibitions are affecting the ways in which the laws are being enforced. This Article explores those judicial and legislative developments and discusses the implications of a focus on dignity and discrimination as the basis for sexual harassment law in France and in other nations, including the United States