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They deserve to have a workplace free from discrimination,” said Patricia Silva, head of the legal department of the governmental National Women's Service (SERNAM). The law, approved by the Senate on Jan. 6, will introduce a reform to the country's labour code, classifying sexual harassment as a misdemeanour. SERNAM Minister Cecilia Pérez said that the law will likely be enacted in May by President Ricardo Lagos, after the lower house of Congress has ratified the modifications made by the Senate. Silva told IPS that Chile lags far behind the rest of the region on this issue. ”The majority of Latin American countries have had laws that penalise sexual harassment for many years, and theirs go much further than our own legislation. In most of them, sexual harassment is classified as a crime, and is not limited to the workplace.” Mexico added the category of sexual harassment to its Penal Code in 1991, providing for prison sentences of up to 40 days, while Costa Rica passed a Law Against Sexual Harassment in Places of Employment and Education in 1995. The Chilean legislation defines sexual harassment as a unilateral and unwelcome sexual advance or request for sexual favours, in any form, that entails a threat to the individual's employment opportunities or adversely affects the individual's work environment and performance. As such, it excludes relations between co-workers that arise from mutual consent. ”I believe that the law is solid enough to bring about a cultural change that will serve the purpose of prevention, as well as allowing for the investigation and prosecution of cases of sexual harassment in the workplace,” said Rosalba Todaro, a researcher at the Women's Studies Centre (CEM). In 2004, the Chilean government's Department of Labour received 61 complaints of sexual harassment, all of them filed by women. Of the cases involved, 48 percent had taken place in Santiago, the capital. The same government agency was contacted for 1,943 consultations regarding sexual harassment last year, by 1,035 women and 908 men. Harassment can have serious consequences for women, Todaro told IPS. ”It affects their mental health and self-esteem, often because of the current tendency to blame the victim, based on the belief that it was her own inability to handle the situation that led to the harassment.” Sexual harassment also has a negative impact on the workplace. ”Companies are affected because the working environment becomes tense and hostile, leading to a loss of productivity,” added Todaro, who is the author, with Bárbara Délano Azócar, of a book entitled ”Sexual Harassment in the Workplace”, published by CEM in 1992. Ana Bell of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), Chile's largest trade union federation, told IPS that she still has doubts regarding the application of the new law. Nevertheless, she recognises the importance of classifying sexual harassment as a misdemeanour in the country's labour code, because it will give greater visibility to the problem, as well as making it a punishable offence. ”We believe the law has certain shortcomings, particularly because it is based on the premise of equality among individuals who work together, and we know this is not the reality, precisely because sexual harassment is an abuse of power,” said Bell. To protect the women who file complaints, and ensure that the procedure established by the law is carried out effectively, Bell has proposed the active participation of trade unions, although this is not contemplated in the legislation itself. A survey of 1,200 women workers in Santiago conducted by CEM in 1993 revealed that 20 percent had suffered some form of sexual harassment in the workplace, while 84.3 percent acknowledged the existence of the problem. When extrapolated to the female workforce as a whole, this 20 percent translates into 360,000 women who have been subjected to sexual harassment in their place of employment. In 30 percent of cases, the perpetrator was the woman's direct superior, while in another 35 percent, it was another individual with authority in the same company. The remaining cases involved harassment by peers or co-workers. Since 1997, the Department of Labour has investigated all complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace that it receives, and has imposed fines on the companies involved if the offence is confirmed. A study carried out by this government department, entitled ”Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: From Impunity to Action” and based on the 46 complaints filed in 1997 and 1998, found that the vast majority of women subjected to harassment held low-skilled jobs. The study showed that sexual harassment occurs in a wide range of economic sectors, including the service industry, the garment industry, restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, farms and even schools. The majority of cases reported took place in small establishments, in terms of both the number of workers and the physical size of the workplace. The study also revealed that most of the 46 cases reported in 1997 and 1998 ended in the firing or resignation of the women who filed the complaints. Like most other business leaders, the president of the Chilean Retailers Federation, Rafael Cumsille, is waiting to see the full text of the law before commenting on the matter in detail. Nevertheless, he said he approved of the initiative to punish sexual harassment in the workplace. ”We only hope that the lawmakers have looked at both sides of the issue. It's fine to punish people who genuinely behave badly, who don't necessarily have to be the owners of the companies, but it's also necessary to punish false accusations made to obtain some kind of personal benefit,” he told IPS. The law approved by the Senate obliges companies with over 10 employees to develop their own internal policy regarding the actions to be taken in cases of sexual harassment. The legislation stipulates two possible procedures: an investigation within the company itself, carried out by the employer, or the involvement of the Department of Labour. While the specific details of the case are being investigated, during a period of up to 30 days, the employer must take steps to protect the parties involved, either through physical separation in the workplace or a change in working hours so that the complainant and the accused are not on shift at the same time. Once a final ruling is made, the employer has up to 15 days to adopt the corresponding measures. If the harassment is confirmed, the perpetrator is to be fired without compensation, and the victim has the option of pursuing legal action in the courts. If the perpetrator is the victim's boss, the victim can unilaterally choose to cease employment in the company and receive the compensation normally paid when a worker resigns, plus an additional 80 percent. He or she also maintains the right to pursue legal action in the courts and demand additional compensation for moral and psychological damage. Individuals who file sexual harassment complaints are guaranteed anonymity, while their claims must be backed up with evidence (such as medical confirmation of physical or psychological harm resulting from the harassment) and the testimony of witnesses. If a worker is deemed to have purposely made a false accusation of harassment, he or she will be obliged to compensate the individual accused. Chile has one of the lowest employment rates for women of working age in Latin American, at just 36.2 percent. In addition, women receive 70 percent of the salary paid to men for the same jobs. Roughly 46 percent of women workers in Chile are employed in the service area (which includes domestic workers), 25 percent in the retail trade, 11 percent in the manufacturing industry (mainly textiles, clothing and shoes), 11 percent in the food industry, seven percent in financial institutions and six percent in agriculture.