Academics &Research
Zhang Ting, An Analysis of the Legal System of Sexual Harassment Prevention in Japanese Universities from the Perspective of Procedure Law
Abstract: The prevention of sexual harassment in Japanese universities faces problems such as difficulty in identification and insufficient legislation supply. At the same time, Japan’s sexual harassment prevention and control legal system has gradually shifted from the entity identification of whether sexual harassment is established to the emphasis on the improvement of procedural regulations, which is reflected on the establishment of the school’s prevention system and the identification of judicial procedures. In terms of the construction of the prevention and control system in schools, Japanese universities have generally formulated sexual harassment prevention and control procedures, set up sexual harassment consulting, investigation, and handling agencies, and improved the procedures for identifying sexual harassment cases. Regarding the determination of judicial procedures, Japanese courts pay attention to procedurally determining whether schools have fulfilled their duty of care for the prevention of sexual harassment, and judge whether the behavior of teachers conforms to the school's code of conduct. The emphasis on procedures by judicial precedents in turn promotes the improvement of sexual harassment prevention work in colleges and universities, and forms a code of conduct for teachers and students in terms of sexual harassment.