Sexual Harassment In Turkish Labour Law

Nowadays all around the developed countries sexual harass- ment within the concept of discrimination became a very popular subject to discuss and search for remedies. Regarding the sexual harassment, Turkish people are not as courageous as the people of western to bring the sexual harassment or sexual crimes or events at the attention of the public opinion. Nevertheless in 2000’s the concept of sexual harassment became popular among academicians, and with the impact of the studies legislator stipulate mentioned provisions below about the sexual harassment in Turkish legislation. According to Turkish Constitution in general, everyone has the right to live, to protect her/his moral and physical being and to im- prove it1. The new Turkish Penal Code which is in force since June 1, 20052 sexual crimes take place in the section of “Crimes against humans” with the heading “crimes against sexual immunities”. In the repealed Penal Code, the sexual crimes took place with “crimes against 3 general manners and against family life. In the new Penal Code new trends took place and contemporary provi- sions adopted. Also there are general provisions in the Obligations Act and in the Labour Act about sexual harassment regarding the ILO Agreement number 111 about Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation,4 and European Union Directives, European Council’s documents and agreements on Human Rights reflected as well. Especially recommendation number 12 and 19 of the Committees of the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW), and also Nairobi Declara- tion dated 19855 Development of Women and Strategies for Future and Beijing Declaration dated 1995 , the 4 th. World Conference are the international documents which influenced Turkish Legislation and approved by Turkish Government Turkey as a member of International Labour Organization and member of United Nations and Member of European Council ratifies most of the key conventions, declarations, international documents. That is why the legal rights are based on contemporary and international rules. About sexual harassment and crime where most of the victims are women and children, the issue is considered within the concept of discrimination of gender7. The remedies focus on discrimination which is the right perspective to begin with. In Turkey many NGO’s are dealing with the question in all circum- stances to avoid the unequal practice, ensure the human rights of women and female children and protect them against violation. Trying to train the male gender, to promote the values of the societ- ies by eliminating all forms of discrimination.