21st June 2022
The Seimas approved amendments to the Law on Equal Treatment, which will allow the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson to investigate a wider range of citizens’ complaints. From now on, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson will also be able to deal with complaints of harassment in the areas of consumer rights as well as organizations and associations. In addition, the protection against persecution after lodging a complaint is extended.
Protection against harassment and sexual harassment
The new draft of the law provides protection against harassment and sexual harassment in the area of consumer rights, as well as organizations and associations.
Birutė Sabatauskaitė, Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, states that the following changes will help a larger number of people: “Until now, people have been consulted quite often on harassment, especially in the field of consumer protection. This includes sexual harassment of drivers while on the bus and degrading remarks based on sex deemed as harassment when purchasing driving school services, harassing a person with a disability or speaking a particular language while buying goods in a shop or receiving any other services. The protection of the law also applies to those who experience humiliation due to their origin or sexual harassment in bars. This means that all service providers will be required to take measures to ensure a safer environment and to respond when customers notify them. Until now, we have not been able to deal with all of these complaints because the law did not provide for such a possibility”.
What is harassment?
The Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson points out that harassment is prohibited on all grounds established by law – gender, race, nationality, citizenship, language, origin, social status, religion, belief or opinion, age, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion.
Harassment is defined as unwanted conduct where any of the above grounds is used for offending or serves for the insulting of the dignity of a person, or to it is sought create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, or offensive environment, or one is created.
Protection from harassment
There are cases where a person reports or complains about discrimination that he/she experienced [1], and then becomes the target of harassment, hostile treatment or negative consequences from the person or body that he/she complained against. Until now, in such a case, the law has provided protection against harassment only in the field of employment, for example, by filing a complaint against the discriminatory actions of your manager.
The approved draft of the law expands the list of areas – protection against persecution now extends to education, consumer protection, as well as organizations and associations. For example, those who complain about discrimination in schools or universities, at places where goods and services are provided.
[1] Persons who have lodged a complaint regarding discrimination, are a party in a case of discrimination, or reported discrimination, their representative or a person who testifies or gives explanations on discrimination