France's 2012 law redefines sexual harassment, including hostile environments

On 6 August 2012, France adopted a law on sexual harassment that rewrote the offence in both the Penal Code (criminal law) and the Labour Code (employment law). It was passed quickly after the Constitutional Council, the country's top constitutional body, struck down the previous criminal offence in May 2012. The Council found the old wording too vague to respect the principle that crimes must be clearly defined, which left victims with no criminal provision to rely on.

The new text set out two situations. The first covered repeated comments or behaviour with a sexual connotation that either violate a person's dignity because they are degrading or humiliating, or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation. The second covered any serious pressure, even if not repeated, exerted to obtain a sexual act, for the benefit of the perpetrator or a third party.

The reference to a hostile or offensive situation mattered because it moved the focus from a single targeted victim to the overall atmosphere at work. It later became a basis for arguments about so-called ambient harassment, where abusive remarks are not aimed at one person but still make the workplace intolerable.