Miomirka Melank: Criminal Code must recognize sexual harassment as a criminal offense

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Miomirka Melank, a representative in the FBiH Parliament, proposed an amendment to the FBiH Criminal Code to treat sexual harassment as a criminal offense.

"Almost two years have passed since I proposed amendments to the FBiH Criminal Code that mandate alignment with international conventions, particularly the Council of Europe's Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. I prepared the proposal in cooperation with the Association 'Land of Children in BiH'.

Under the pretense that the amendments would be made integrally with other proposals, the FBiH Ministry of Justice postponed the proposed solutions and their inclusion on the agenda of the House of Representatives.

The latest amendment I proposed relates to sexual harassment, specifically the Law on Amendments to the FBiH Criminal Code. The current FBiH Criminal Code does not recognize the offense of 'Sexual Harassment,' which represents a complicating circumstance for victims of this type of offense, who could not prove their claims in court proceedings against perpetrators by invoking related offenses such as rape, coercion into sexual intercourse, or lewd acts.

Article 208a of the FBiH Criminal Code 'Sexual Harassment' would contain the following provisions:

- Whoever sexually harasses another person shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.

- Whoever commits the act from paragraph (1) of this article against a minor shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to five years.

- Sexual harassment is any verbal, non-verbal, or physical behavior that aims at or constitutes a violation of a person's dignity in the sphere of sexual life, and which causes fear or creates a hostile, humiliating, or offensive environment."