Contextualizing Discrimination: The Problem with Sexual Harassment in Russia

Abstract

Focusing on the issue of sexual harassment, I argue that comparative gender studies should go beyond tracking changes to laws that are presumed to be equivalent in meaning across political landscapes. The ‘facts’ that amount to the harm of sexual harassment are tied to normative frames about sexual difference and discrimination. In Russia, the frames of the woman question and gender symmetry animate how sexual harassment is recognized in law. My analysis shows that current law on sexual harassment will remain silent if the underlying questions of whether to politicize sexual difference and how to recognize discrimination are not addressed.