In spite of being illicit for the greater part of a century, inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment remains today the unavoidable type of violence against women, regularly incorporating different categories of brutality in its ambit.

This obstinate and malignant

relies on pervasive behaviour and beliefs embedded in our society supporting maltreatment against women. How does a civilized society condone such behaviour? What can be done to prevent such

actions? A lot of theories have been framed to understand the mentality of men

who tend to commit such an act. Alike

other countries UAE is also facing issues to curb these criminal acts within

the country. Nevertheless, UAE has stringent and severe penalties for such

criminal and well-framed procedures to seek an adequate remedy which is the main subject matter of this article.

Sexual Harassment in any form of behaviour is unaccepted and unasked for and

which tends to humiliate and offend the other person in every way possible. Harassment

can be ongoing or can be one such act. It can take any form regardless of the

place and the relationship with the

person committing it. A behaviour which is

freely accepted in a particular society is

not considered as harassment. However,

if such behaviour is asked to stop as it is no longer acceptable,

it must be restricted immediately.

UAE legislators as any other country

have strict policies against unwelcoming sexual harassment or hostile behaviour. Sexual harassment at the workplace may include repeated offensive jokes

unnecessary comments, unwelcoming touch, intimidation and more. Any offensive behaviour which disturbs

the work environment or makes it unhealthy for women

to perform her professional duties shall be immediately informed to the police

authorities or to a lawyer to take relevant action.

The main aim of this article is to

guide women in UAE to be aware of the laws about

sexual harassment at the workplace and

the procedure to register a complaint about

the same. Federal Law Number 3 of 1987, UAE Penal Code criminalizes any indecent or disgraceful behaviour towards women.

Article 358 and 359 of the Penal Code punishes

by way of imprisonment with a minimum term of 6 months. The law reads as

follows:

“Article 358: Whosoever publicly

or openly commit a disgraceful or

indecent act shall be punished by way of detention for a period not less than six months. In

addition, any unwelcoming or disgraceful act against a girl below the

age of 15 years even if not committed publicly shall be punished with a minimum

imprisonment of 1 year.

Article 359: whosoever disgraces women by words or deeds in a public place, or a street shall be punished with imprisonment

of a period not more than two years and a maximum fine of AED 10,000. Further, a

similar penalty will be imposed on any

man who disguises himself in women’s clothing and enters a public place

reserved for women. If such man commits a crime in such clothing shall be

considered as an aggravating circumstance.”

Furthermore, Article 360 until 370

provides for various categories of sexual harassment at the workplace and the punishment imposed on any man

who commits such crimes. Few examples of such behaviour

are as follows:

·

Anyone who entices

passerby on a road or street by way of words or signs to debauchery shall be punished with a minimum term of 6 months;

·

Anyone who prompts an act

of debauchery by way of song or yelling shall be

imprisoned with a term not

exceeding six months or fine AED 5,000;

·

Imprisonment for a minimum term of 1 year will be imposed on anyone who entices women

to do debauchery or prostitution, wherever a punishment not exceeding ten years for those who entice for debauchery

by coercion;

·

Life imprisonment for those who habitually practice

debauchery or prostitution.

Procedure to file a complaint

Any woman harassed in any way shall

register a complaint at the nearest police station with the help of a lawyer

mentioning the complete details of the act and the details of the harasser

along with any evidence (if any). Upon registering the complaint, the public prosecutor will initiate the relevant

investigation against the harasser and will draft a criminal report to

determine the validity of the complaint and if satisfied will pass on the file

to the criminal court for their verdict.

Harassment at the workplace can be

avoided or stopped if a woman takes a clear action or inform the

employer or other authorities. However, if such person is adamant on his behaviour a prompt legal action is much needed.