A Preliminary Investigation into the Place of Victims of Sexual Harassment, Assault and Misconduct at Places of Work under Cameroonian Law: A Critical Appraisal
Keywords:
Place-Victims-Sexual Harassment-sexual assault-sexual misconduct -Places of Work – Cameroonian-Law-Critical AppraisalAbstract
Almost everywhere in a contemporary world, even in countries are very much proud ofr can sometime boost of a high level of civilisation, industrialization, democracy, high rate of respect for human rights and dignity, women are always faaced with the problem of employment and occupational injustice at their various places of work. As a matter of fact, even some couutries around the world in general and Cameroon in particular that have ratifiedthe two ILO Convention[1] in relation to the topic under discourse still witness high rate of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct amongst most of their women at their so called places of work. In reality, the current regulatory framework governing an employment relationship in Cameroon is Law No. 92/007 of 14 August 1992, instituting the Labour code has failed to address this issue of sexual harassment of most women at places of work which seriously disturbs the working atmosphere of female workers. However, the subsequent revision of the Cameroon penal code in 2016 which punishes sexual harassment is flawed with many ambiguities which raise worries as to its applicability. Consequently, this paper has as main objective to critically examine the effective application of the Cameroonian law in guaranteeing an enabling atmosphere for female workers at their various places of work across the entire territory. In this light, adopting an in-depth content analysis based on primary and secondary sources of data collection and data analysis is imperative. Thus, this research concludes that the repression of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct at places of work under Cameroonian Law contains some impediments and these drawbacks (limitations) will therefore necessitate the suggestion of some possible recommendations to provide an enabling legal atmosphere for the female workers at their various places of work in Cameroon.
References
1. See the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 No. 100, ratified in 1970 and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), ratified in 1988.
2. See ILO Committee of Experts, 1988 General Survey on Equality in Employment and Occupational (hereafter General Survey) p.43.
3. See article 1 of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention No.111.
4. See 1988 Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR)
5. See ILO CEACR 1996.
6. For a comprehensive understanding of the principle of non - discrimination at the level of recruitment and during performance of contract, see Kelese, G.N., (2015), Cameroonian labour law, General principles & Practical Exercise, SLOPP, Bafoussam-Cameroon, pp.207-207.
7. Law No 2016/007 of 12 July 2016, governing the penal code of Cameroon.
8. Weisberg, Kelly D., (1996), Sexual harassment: Introduction. In Applications of feminist legal theory to women’s lives: Sex, violence, work and reproduction, ed. NJLIL (2020) 1–13 © Law Journals 2020. All Rights Reserved Page 12 Kelly D. Weisberg, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, pp.725 –739. See also Zhao, He -Jun (2006), Sexual harassment and rape – To ‘gender-neutral ‘Collection of Women’s Studies, p.23.
9. Carley Ruiz et al., (2019), Welcome to your first job: expect to be un derpaid, bullied, harassed or exploited in some way, Griffith University. Available at https://theconversation.com/welcome - to-your-first-job-expect-to-be-underpaid- bullied-harassed-or-exploited-in-some- way-110438.
10. ILO Committee of Experts, 1988 General Survey on Equality in Employment and Occupational, op cit, pp.43-44.
11. Ibid, pp.44-45.
12. See Commission Recommendation of 27 November 1991 on the protection of the dignity of women at work, 92/C 27/04; the European parliament resolution of 11 June 1986 on violence against women, OJ C 176, 14 July 1986, p.79. etc.
13. In most family settings in Africa in general and Cameroon in particular, only male children are allowed to inherit their father’s property. This is to attest the fact that women as per customar y law of Cameroon are regarded as property of their husband and so property cannot own property.
14. See articles 6, 17 and 18, of the above UN General Recommendation.
15. See article 1 of the CEDAW of 1979. Article 2 goes further to call on state parties to conde mn discrimination against women in all forms and agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without any delay of elimination against women.
16. See Constance Newman, (2016), “Five challenges to women’s Human Economic and Labour Rights in the Global Health Workforce”, Intra health International, p.5.
17. See the preamble of the UN Charter of 1948 and especially article 62 (2).
18. See Petrocelli W., & Barbara K.R., Sexual Harassment on the Job: What it is & how to stop it (4th Ed.), available at hrlibrary.umn.edu.
19. The American Federation of Labour - Congress of Industrial Organization, AFL- CIO) Working Women's Department.
20. Catherine MacKinnon is the author of Sexual Harassment of Working Women , was the first legal scholar to draw attention to the connection between sex discrimination and sexual harassment.
21. See Petrocelli W., & Barbara K.R., Sexual Harassment on the Job: What it is & how to stop it (4th Ed.), available at hrlibrary.umn.edu.
22. What is sexual harassment? Available at https://au.reachout.com/articles/what-is- sexual-harassment.
23. Whincup, M., (1995), Modern Employment Law: A Guide to Job Security and Safety, 8 th Edition, Butterworth’s, London, p.46.
24. See the preamble of the Cameroon constitution of 18th January 1996.
25. Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women of the People’s Republic of Cameroon
26. General Principles of the Civil Law of the People’s Republic of Cameroon.
27. The Cameroon Labour code of 1992.
28. The Cameroon Labour code of 1992.
29. Section 302 (1) of Law no. 2016/007 of 12 July 2016, relating to the penal code.
30. Ibid, section 302 (2)-(3).
31. Interview by Josy: “The New Penal Code is a Stride towards Gender Equality” 12 August 2016 08:03 Available at https://www.cameroontribune.cm/article.h tml/374/en.html/interview-the-new-penal- code-stride-towards-gender-equality.
32. See Tabe Tabe S., (2001), “Enhancing the protection of female workers under the 1992 Cameroonian labour code “, Annales of UDs, p.176.
33. Section 302 (1) of Law no. 2016/007 of 12 July 2016, relating to the penal code.
34. Ibid, section 302 (2)-(3).
35. (1986) I.C.R. 564.
36. (1990) I R.L.R. 3.
37. The evidence of sexual harassment is very visible in the university milieu nowadays.
38. See a research project conducted on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, 2009, at pp.23 –28. This research was conducted in 2005 under the joint project – sexual harassment research in the workplace – led by the gender and law NJLIL (2020) 1–13 © Law Journals 2020. All Rights Reserved Page 13 research centre of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the anti -domestic violence net in the China Law Society.[42]
39. For example, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) Hong Kong, which was put in place in 1996 and focuses on anti-discrimination matters, is one of its specific s tatutory government bodies in the field of anti-discrimination.
40. On August 12, 2016 Prof. Marie Therese Abena Ondoa, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, talks on the dividends for women in the new Penal Code of Cameroon. She however lauded the progress contained in the new Penal Code concerning women’s issues such as the ban on female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, acts inhibiting the growth of women’s organs, etc.
41. Before now, an awareness session was held in the Yaounde City Council Hall on July 28, 2016, wherein experts explained the provisions that concern women and the family as a whole. Participants were community leaders, women’s associations and civil society organizations.
42. See Law No.2009/004 of April 14, 2009 on the organization of legal assistance, giving full rights to legal assistance to all unemployed persons without resources or those abandoned by their spouses.
43. In the entire human rights discourse, the concept of women of distress is found only in the Maputo Protocol. The protocol recognizes and protects women of distress by calling on State parties to ensure the protection of poor women and women heads of families including women from marginalized population groups and provide them with an environment suitable for thei r condition and for their special physical, economic and social needs. Article 4 of the Maputo Protocol explicitly imposes obligations on the State to take measures prohibiting the degradation and exploitation of women as well as measures protecting from all forms of violence. Cite this Article Tasiki Desvarieux Ntobengwia, Ndung Chantal Mbong. A Preliminary Investigation into the Place of Victims of Sexual Harassment, Assault and Misconduct at Places of Work under Cameroonian Law: A Critical Appraisal . Law. June 2020; 3(1): 1–13p.
