Sexual Harassment in the European Union: The Dawning of a New Era‪.‬

Introduction The European Parliament and the Council took a bold step toward prohibiting sexual harassment throughout workplaces in the European Union (EU) when it recently enacted amendments to the 1976 Equal Treatment Directive (European Parliament and the Council, 2002). The public policy objective of Directive 2002/73/EC (hereafter, "the Directive") is to harmonize the Member States' laws regarding the equal treatment of men and women. As Member States (currently 15 nations, soon to be 25) adopt laws implementing the Directive, sexual harassment will be recognized as a form of gender-based discrimination throughout the EU.