Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill to Combat Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

According to local crime statistics, ninety-nine percent of the sexual assault victims in 2023 were women. Eamon Courtenay, the Lead Senator for Government Business further noted that women are far more likely to experience sexual harassment in the workplace than men. To combat the scourge of sexual harassment, the Briceño Administration introduced an Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill to the National Assembly. The bill seeks to modernise the current sexual harassment bill currently in place. Among other things, it stipulates that companies must have in place an anti-sexual harassment policy and that victims of sexual harassment have up to eighteen months to make a report.

 

Eamon Courtenay, Lead Government Senator

“This bill and I want to start by saying this. We are repealing a bill that provides protection for sexual harassment. This is modernizing and improving that legislation. The point is this, it is already the laws of Belize that one should not sexually harass another person. it is already the law of Belize that there is protection for persons who believe that they are subjected to sexual harassment. This bill seeks to streamline, modernize and update the current legislation. It is a critically important bill in a society where far too often and it is mostly male, there is sexual harassment.”

  

 

Michael Peyrefitte, Lead Opposition Senator

“It is a good concept of a bill. It is a good bill. And there has to be a structure. It is excellent that it is fine tuned even more a process by which you can report sexual predators and there is a process where businesses are required to put out that policy to the public to let them know that sexual harassment is an offense and that it will be punished because it cannot be tolerated. I think the opportunity could have been used, I know it is there for the workplace and for the public, that the time to report it is eighteen months. Madam President I think that is kind of long. We are not talking Bill Cosby or anything. But I think if somebody is sexually assaulted, they should report it immediately.”