Saturday, January 27, 2007

Schultz on the History and Future of Sexual Harassment Law

Vicki Schultz, Yale, has posted a new article, published in the Thomas Jefferson Law Review, Understanding Sexual Harassment Law in Action: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It. Here's the abstract:

This article, given as the Fourth Annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecture, analyzes the historical development of sexual harassment law as it has played out in U. S. courts and companies over the past thirty years. I document the simultaneous overinclusiveness and underinclusiveness of the traditional approach, which defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual advances. I argue for a more expansive definition of harassment which turns the focus away from sexuality and places it on the broader work structures and social relations through which gender inequality is produced. I explore the implications for legal reform and scholarship.