Legal Definitions in the EU Member States

While not being a criminal offence in itself, sexual harassment can be prosecuted under Articles 198 and 199 of the Criminal Code.

• Article 198 Whoever, taking advantage of the vulnerability of another person, or of the lack of ability to recognise the significance of the act or ability to control his/her conduct, resulting from mental disability or disorder, subjects such a person to sexual intercourse or makes him/her submit to another sexual act or to perform such an act shall be subject to the penalty of the deprivation of liberty for a term of between 6 months and 8 years.
• Article 199 § 1. Whoever, abusing a relationship of dependence or by taking advantage of a critical situation, subjects such a person to sexual intercourse or makes him/her submit to another sexual act or to perform such an act shall be subject to the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years. § 2. If the act specified in §1 was committed against a minor, the perpetrator shall be subject to the penalty of deprivation of liberty for a term of between 3 months and 5 years. § 3. The punishment specified in § 2 shall be imposed on anyone, who subjects a minor to sexual intercourse or makes him/her submit to another sexual act or to perform such an act by abusing a trust or by giving a material or personal benefit or promise to provide it.

Article 18 §6 of Labour Code: Discrimination based on gender is any undesired behaviour of a sexual nature or referring to the employee’s gender whose aim or effect is violation of the employee’s dignity, especially creating a threatening, hostile, humiliating, degrading atmosphere; such behaviour can be comprised of physical, verbal and non-verbal elements (sexual harassment; § 6).

Who, by means of stalking another person or persons who are close to her, causes in this person a justified sense of threat or significantly violates her privacy, is liable to a penalty of the deprivation of freedom for up to three years.

When physical and psychological mistreatments, including physical punishments, deprivation of freedom and sexual offences onto someone of the opposite or same sex take place with whom the aggressor maintains or has maintained a dating relation or akin to that of spouses, even if not in the same household.

It is an offense to use violence, force, or serious threat, or to make a person unconscious or unable to resist, in order to have vaginal, oral or anal sexual intercourse with the victim or enabling someone else to do so, or to insert body parts or any other objects into the vagina or anus.

The circumstance of forcing the victim to suffer or perform with him/her or another, a relevant sexual act by any means of violence, serious threat or, to hose means, rendering the victim unconscious or unable to resist.

Any kind of unwanted behaviour occurring in the context of an application for a job or in the context of actual employment, occupation or professional training, which has the purpose or the effect of effecting a person’s dignity, or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Any unwanted verbal, non verbal, or physical behaviour of sexual nature, with the purpose or the effect described in the previous section.

Who troubles another by acting before them in an exhibitionist way or coercing them to sexual contact.

Any deliberate action or inaction, with the exception of self-defence, that is either physical or verbal, perpetrated by a family member against another member of the same family that causes a harm, a physical, psychological or sexual or emotional suffering or a material prejudice, including threat of such acts, constraint or temporary deprivation of freedom.

The sexual act, of any kind, with a person of the opposite sex or of the same sex by forcing that person or by taking advantage of his or her impossibility to defend herself/himself or to express his/her will

The act of sexual nature other than rape with a person, perpetrated with constraint, or rendering it impossible for the person to defend or to express consent or taking advantage of an incapacitated state of a person.

3 different laws provide a legal definition for sexual harassment.

• Sexual harassment at work is a form of discrimination(Law 324/2006 Anti-discrimination law, Article 2(5))
• Sexual harassment at work is any behaviour in relation to gender about which the person who is responsible knows that is affecting the dignity of persons, if such a behaviour is rejected and represents a motivation for a decision affecting those persons (Law 340/2006 for the amendment and approval of Law 202/2002 regarding equality of opportunity between women and men).
• Harassing a person through threats or constraints in order to obtain sexual satisfaction by a person who abuses his/her authority or his/her influence given by his position in the workplace is an act of sexual harassment punishable by prison from 3 months to 2 years or fine (Criminal Code,Article 203) - in the new Criminal Code to be introduced Sexual Harassment will defined under Article 223

Whoever is cruel to (abusing) a close person or a person in his custody or care, causing physical or psychological suffering to such person mainly by a) beating, kicking, punching, causing injuries and burns of any kind, humiliating, contemptuous treatment, stalking, making threats, exciting fear or stress, forcing into isolation, emotional blackmailing or any other behaviour jeopardizing the person’s physical or psychological health or limiting the person’s safety, b) groundless denying of food, rest or sleep, or denying of necessary personal care, clothing, hygiene, health care, housing, upbringing or education, c) forcing the person to beg or to perform activities requiring excessive physical or psychological exhaustion regarding the age or health condition of the person, or to perform activities that may harm the person’s health, d) exposure to substances that may harmful the person’s health, or e) unjustified preventing of access to property that the person has a right to use shall be sentenced for 3 up to 8 years of imprisonment.