Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

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WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 193
other areas, such as equality and anti-discrimination law and
criminal law, being adopted. 518
The UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women
notes that sexual harassment takes place in a variety of
situations and should be made a criminal offence or subject to
other sanction in all situations, including educational
institutions, employment, receipt of goods/services, renting
accommodation, buying or selling land, sport, administration of
public office and provision of public services. 519
Sexual harassment in public places: “street harassment”
or “harassment on the street”
Sexual harassment in public places has received relatively little
attention in human rights standards and jurisprudence, but
several recent initiatives have highlighted the adverse human
rights effects of street harassment. Important initiatives using
internet applications to record acts of street harassment have
brought attention to the way that sexual harassment on the
street threatens women and leads to them limiting their
activities. 520
In the case of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and
Interights v Egypt, the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights identified sexual harassment of various kinds as
gender-based violence, in violation of Article 2 and Article
18(3) of the African Charter (a form of discrimination and
gender-based discrimination):
“Firstly, when looking at the verbal assaults used
against the Victims, such as ‘slut’ and ‘whore,’ it is the
opinion of the African Commission that these words are
518
UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, above
note 511, page 28.
519
Ibid, page 28
520
Hollaback, a web-based initiative active in many countries globally,
describes street harassment as “a gateway crime” that makes other
forms of gender-based violence acceptable.
http://www.ihollaback.org/#.