take advantage of this opportunity. Thus equal treatment might lead to unequal results. To address this situation, the concept of indirect or disparate impact discrimination has been developed. According to this conception, equal treatment will be held to be discriminatory if it has a disproportionate effect on women (or men) unless it can be justified as necessary for the proper execution of the job in hand. The equal treatment principle remains the dominant conception of equality in most of the jurisdictions covered here. An example is Botswana, where both the constitution and statute prohibit only direct discrimination. However, there are good examples of highly developed statutory definitions of discrimination in some countries. The Czech Republic, which is bound by EU law, has detailed provision for both direct and indirect discrimination. Kenya’s Employment act 2007 prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination, but indirect discrimination is not defined directly. By contrast, the Kenyan National Cohesion and Integration 2007 has a detailed definition of indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, which largely mirrors that of the EU. (iv) Sexual harassment The recognition of sexual harassment as a species of discrimination has been of real importance in the development of anti-discrimination law. At first, sexual harassment was dealt with as a species of direct discrimination, but like pregnancy, it encountered difficulties in finding an appropriate comparator. More recently, it has been dealt with in its own right. Rather than being regarded as a wrong because a woman is less favourably treated than a man, it is regarded as a wrong because it is an affront to the dignity and self respect of the victim. More developed conceptions of sexual harassment distinguish between two kinds of harassment: quid pro quo harassment, and harassment caused by an intimidating, hostile or humiliating work environment. Both EU law and the ILO recognize both these forms of sexual harassment; and the ILO requires contracting states to include both in their legislation. A prohibition on sexual harassment has not been introduced in some jurisdictions (Zambia and Nepal) and only partially in others. For example, in Botswana, it is only an offence in relation to public employment. On the other hand, there several examples of good practice. The Czech Republic includes a provision on sexual harassment. Based on a transposition of
take advantage of this opportunity. Thus equal treatment might lead to unequal results. To address this situation, the concept of indirect or disparate impact discrimination has been developed. According to this conception, equal treatment will be held to be discriminatory if it has a disproportionate effect on women (or men) unless it can be justified as necessary for the proper execution of the job in hand. The equal treatment principle remains the dominant conception of equality in most of the jurisdictions covered here. An example is Botswana, where both the constitution and statute prohibit only direct discrimination. However, there are good examples of highly developed statutory definitions of discrimination in some countries. The Czech Republic, which is bound by EU law, has detailed provision for both direct and indirect discrimination. Kenya’s Employment act 2007 prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination, but indirect discrimination is not defined directly. By contrast, the Kenyan National Cohesion and Integration 2007 has a detailed definition of indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, which largely mirrors that of the EU. (iv) Sexual harassment The recognition of sexual harassment as a species of discrimination has been of real importance in the development of anti-discrimination law. At first, sexual harassment was dealt with as a species of direct discrimination, but like pregnancy, it encountered difficulties in finding an appropriate comparator. More recently, it has been dealt with in its own right. Rather than being regarded as a wrong because a woman is less favourably treated than a man, it is regarded as a wrong because it is an affront to the dignity and self respect of the victim. More developed conceptions of sexual harassment distinguish between two kinds of harassment: quid pro quo harassment, and harassment caused by an intimidating, hostile or humiliating work environment. Both EU law and the ILO recognize both these forms of sexual harassment; and the ILO requires contracting states to include both in their legislation. A prohibition on sexual harassment has not been introduced in some jurisdictions (Zambia and Nepal) and only partially in others. For example, in Botswana, it is only an offence in relation to public employment. On the other hand, there several examples of good practice. The Czech Republic includes a provision on sexual harassment. Based on a transposition of
RoletEqualityandNonDiscriminationLawsinWomensEconomic.docx