Belize
Equal Employment Opportunity

Sexual harassment

A person commits an act of sexual harassment against another person if that person engages in any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature where that person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the conduct is unwelcomed by the other person.

Sexual harassment includes conduct which involves:

• making an unwelcome sexual comment to a person, sexual comment about a person within that person’s hearing, sexual innuendo to a person, sexual gesture to a person, sexual contact with a person, sexual advance towards a person, request for sexual favours from a person
• providing a person with unwelcome sexual images or graphics or audio of a sexual nature
• transmitting unwelcome electronic messages of a sexual nature to a person
• exposing a third party to any harassing conduct
• making it appear to a person seeking employment that the offer of employment to that person or the terms on which employment is offered, are contingent on that person’s acceptance of or submission to any unwelcome sexual advances from the prospective employer
• making it appear to a co-employee that the prospects or working conditions of that co-employee are contingent upon the co-employee’s acceptance or tolerance of unwelcome sexual advances from the person or his employer or supervisor
• making it appear to another person that preferential treatment or other advantage would only be provided to that person upon that person’s acceptance of or submission to unwelcome sexual advances
• making it appear to another person that preferential treatment or other advantage would only be provided to that person upon that person’s acceptance of or submission to unwelcome sexual advances
• directly or indirectly engaging in any other form of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature

Any conduct described above constitutes sexual harassment irrespective of:

• the method used to convey the conduct or
• whether the conduct was committed on a single occasion.

In assessing potentially harassing conduct, the circumstances to be taken into account include:

• the sex, gender, age, relationship status, sexual preference, gender identity, religious belief, colour, race, national or ethnic origin of the person who has alleged sexual harassment
• the relationship between the person alleging sexual harassment and the person who is alleged to have made the advance or request or who engaged in the conduct
• any disability of the person alleging sexual harassment
• any other relevant circumstance.