The concept of harassment in the law of the European Unión

Authors

  • Margarita Robles Carrillo

Keywords:

Harassment, Discrimination, Dignity, Typology, European legislation, Jurisprudence, Intent, Objectivation

Abstract

Harassment is a relatively new legal category that is incorporated into the framework of the EU since the early eighties and, since then, it is the subject since then of a continuous process of defining and reformulation. That process begins with the adoption of some legislative acts of the Council and the Commission that introduce a broad and imprecise concept of harassment. The normative concept of harassment is defined from 2000 through two channels: first, EU directives establish a concept of sexual harassment and other of harassment; and second, European officials and servants legislation provides a concept of psychological harassment and other of sexual harassment. The jurisprudential definition has led to a progressive objectivation of the concept of harassment and towards a conciliatory interpretation of the various normative concepts. However, the absence of a single or uniform concept is a serious and grave obstacle to ensure effective legal protection against this phenomenon.