Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including unwanted physical contact, sexually suggestive remarks, and requests for sexual favors, particularly when submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as a basis for employment or educational decisions, or when the conduct creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment. While frequently addressed through civil and workplace regulatory frameworks rather than the criminal code, a number of jurisdictions have enacted specific criminal offenses for the more severe forms of sexual harassment, including stalking adjacent and coercive conduct. The legal concept developed substantially from the 1970s onward, particularly in United States employment discrimination law.
Facts
Classification CodeIn most countries certain types of workplace sexual harassment are illegal as a form of employment discrimination rather than as a standalone criminal offense. 1 Elements of OffenseLegal scholarship classifies workplace sexual harassment into two main types, quid pro quo harassment and hostile environment harassment. 1 Jurisdiction VariationMore than 100 countries have laws against both hostile-environment and quid-pro-quo sexual harassment, and dozens address harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity specifically, though the legal and social understanding of the offense varies by culture. 1 Classification
Offense GradeMinor or Summary Offense 1 Connections
Has Offense Grade
Entity-backed identity for the offense-grade enum value this offense already carries, resolved to a crime concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The offense-grade fact itself stays on the offense unchanged.
Sources
1. Sexual Harassment (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLegal aspects section, employment discrimination sentence
In most countries, certain types of workplace sexual harassment are illegal as a form of employment discrimination.
Legal aspects section, MacKinnon classification sentence
MacKinnon also developed the legal classification of sexual harassment types, as quid pro quo or hostile environment harassment.
Legal aspects section, over 100 countries sentence
Over 100 countries have laws against both hostile environment and quid pro quo types of sexual harassment, and dozens have laws specifically addressing sexual harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
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