France’s Socialist-dominated parliament has approved legislation that makes sexual harassment a crime.
The new law, which addresses problems many say have existed for decades in the country, was approved on Thursday by the National Assembly and sets three levels of harassment, with the most serious punishable by up to three years in prison.
Sexual harassment will entail cases where the harasser has authority over the victim, the victim is younger than 15 years old, or multiple people carry out the harassment.
The legislation covers offences in universities, the housing market and job interviews.
Single acts of sexual blackmail will be considered sexual harassment, whereas previously only repeated acts were.
In the US, sexual harassment is a civil offence usually punishable by fines.
