Harassment: criminal law concept

The article is devoted to the analysis of harassment in terms of its criminal law assessment. Based on a synthesis of sources in the field of international law and the criminal law of foreign countries, the author formulates the concept of harassment and draws analogies with the terminology used by the Russian legislator in relation to coercion to acts of a sexual nature. Purpose of the article: the author sets as his goal a study devoted to the urgent problem of harassment in Russia. The purpose of the article is also to analyze international legal norms, and the current domestic legislation on the subject of the possibility of improving the criminal law mechanism to counter the manifestations of «harassment» in Russian society. Methodology and methods: in this study, the author makes extensive use of methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, as well as a method of interpreting legal norms. Conclusions: as a result of the study, the author concludes that it is necessary to reform the Russian criminal legislation for effective protection against harassment. The author concludes that the state of the current domestic legislation does not allow criminal-law opposition to the manifestations of “harassment”, since the range of actions covered by this term is wider than that used in Art. 133 of the Criminal Code of the term “coercion to acts of a sexual nature”. The author notes that with all attempts to reform legislation in this area, none of the initiatives received approval. The main problem, according to the author, is that the RF has not yet ratified the main international document to combat harassment - the ILO Convention. The author concludes that the perception of international experience in this matter will contribute to the effectiveness of ongoing reforms. Scope of the results: the material of the article is addressed to students of higher educational institutions, as well as graduate students conducting research in the framework of research. In addition, the conclusions of this article can be used by teachers of law schools as a scientific and methodological material.

harassment, compulsion to acts of a sexual nature, criminal liability, qualification of crimes, material dependence, threats, blackmail