No, no: understand what sexual harassment is, a crime typified by law

Sexual harassment is considered a crime according to legislation since 2018. Women, the main victims, live daily with the fear of suffering lewd attacks at work, on the street, at parties, in means of transport (whether public or private) and even at home. Understand the subject better with notes from lawyer Laura Pimentel.

What is sexual harassment?

According to lawyer Laura Pimentel (OAB/AL 16866), “sexual harassment” means any act of a sexual nature that is performed without the victim’s consent and whose purpose is to satisfy one’s own sexual desire or that of third parties. The lawyer also points out that the act can be committed by anyone, regardless of gender. In addition to being a crime that affects mostly women, its occurrence is usually more common in public places or collective transport.

What is the difference between sexual harassment, sexual harassment and rape?

It is important to note that sexual harassment is often confused with sexual harassment and rape, but there are differences.

The main characteristic of sexual harassment is being committed by a repeated action, but, depending on the case, it can be considered as a single act, in which the victim, regardless of gender, ends up being intimidated with inopportune sexual innuendo/incitement.

Therefore, there must be a previous relationship between victim and aggressor, which is not corroborated when it comes to harassment, as the aggressor does not need this connection with the victim.

The crime of rape, on the other hand, is an attempt to embarrass someone, through violence or serious threat, to obtain carnal contact or to practice any other lewd act without the permission of another, which is completely different from sexual harassment, which is constitutes any lewd act without the victim’s consent and which does not require any degree of hierarchy.

The penalty for harassment and harassment can vary, respectively, from 1 to 5 years of imprisonment. As for the crime of rape, depending on the degree, the penalty can range from 6 to 30 years of detention.

The crime of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment consists of disrespect, provoking fear, invading privacy or even hurting someone to satisfy a sexual desire. Law No. 13,718/18, which combats sexual harassment, was only approved at the end of 2018, after strenuous feminist protests against the case involving Diêgo Ferreira de Novaes, who ejaculated on the neck of a woman, in a public transport in the city of Sao Paulo.

“Before the approval of Law No. 13,718/18, cases of sexual harassment were included in the Criminal Misdemeanors Law, which only provided for the penalty of a fine – a kind of inappropriate repression given the high disapproval of the conduct”, comments Laura Pimentel.

Due to the criminal misdemeanor of the time, cases like Diêgo’s were not, as shown by Laura, adequately penalized, which made it easier for the aggressors to commit the crime again. So it was with Diêgo, who, after his release from prison, began to pester women again, also on public transport.

In addition to providing for a penalty of 1 to 5 years of imprisonment, the law aimed to protect and ensure a legal asset of extreme importance and relevance: the victim’s sexual freedom, that is, the right to decide with whom, when and where she wants to practice acts of a sexual nature, as stated by the lawyer.

Types of sexual harassment

One of the most common examples of this type of crime is the harassment that women suffer on public/collective transport. However, other behaviors are also considered as harassment and can be framed within the law that penalizes the act, namely:

• grope;
• kiss forcefully;
• Play without permission;
• Masturbation in public;
• Ejaculation;
• hump;
• Among others.

How to report sexual harassment

According to Pimentel, the victim of sexual harassment must report it to the Military Police by calling 190 and can also make a complaint at the Women’s Assistance Center at 180 or to the Municipal Guard at 153. The Hotline is also open to this type of case. , number 181, as well as the Human Rights Dial 100.

The lawyer also points out that, if the crime took place on public transport, the victim must ask for help from others who are present in the collective, so that the offender does not have the opportunity to flee before being presented to the police.

As Laura points out, the victim cannot forget to gather as much information and evidence about the crime as possible, such as the day, time, footage, characteristics of the offender, and witnesses, and go to the nearest police station to register what happened, so that the due investigation of the case is carried out.

The victim’s word, in cases of sexual harassment, harassment, rape and other sexual crimes, has total relevance and importance, and the police authorities cannot refuse to record what happened. It is the victim’s right and the State’s duty to promote their safety and appropriate punishment for their aggressor.

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