Justice Among Us: Producing an Equilibrium of Interests in Peer-to-Peer Sexual Harassment Proceedings Within Educational and Training Institutions

Abstract

Peer-to-peer sexual harassment is a relatively new species of gender-based sexual harassment under Philippine law. Through the inclusion of punishable conduct of such nature in the Safe Spaces Act of 2019, Congress has recognized the need to update the definition of sexual harassment to cover acts committed between peers taking place in online and public spaces. Peer-to-peer sexual harassment still exists within asymmetrical and gendered power relations, albeit less overt in its manifestation. With a focus on peer-to-peer sexual harassment taking place in educational institutions, this Essay examines how the social policy behind the Safe Spaces Act is complicated by existing jurisprudence on due process rights, laws involving the privacy of the individual, and the rights of minors who may stand as respondents. It anticipates the questions that may arise from the interaction between the policy considerations of the Safe Spaces Act and other rights and interests. Taking into account the cultural ethos which produced the necessity to update the law on sexual harassment, the Essay presents an interdisciplinary examination of anti-sexual harassment policy in academic institutions that considers broader legal and social implications.