France’s Senate began reviewing a new bill on sexual harassment on Wednesday, nearly two months after a ruling by the nation’s highest constitutional body found the original legislation "too vague", leaving the country without a law.


France’s Senate began reviewing a bill on sexual harassment on Wednesday after the country’s highest constitutional body struck the original law from the books in May after judging it as being “too vague”.

The proposed legislation was urgently pieced together by France’s Justice Minister Christiane Taubira and the Minister of Women’s Rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, in the hopes that it might be adopted into law with the least possible delay.

In the text, sexual harassment is redefined as “subjecting an individual to repeated acts, comments or any other conduct of a sexual nature that are detrimental to a person’s dignity because of their degrading or humiliating character, thereby creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.”

The text also breaks sexual harassment up into three different categories, each one punishable by a fine and possible jail time, depending on the crime’s gravity. The most serious of the three carries a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine.

Many women’s right’s groups have applauded the proposed text as a step in the right direction, but have said it should be considered a work in progress.

“The law has improved because we now know what constitutes sexual harassment,” Emmanuelle Piet, president of the Feminist Collective Against Rape (Collectif Féministe Contre le Viol, or CFCV), told FRANCE 24. “While the new law will mean that individuals will once again be able to take legal action against sexual harassment, there are still some aspects of it that need to be improved.”