Madrid, March 8, 2024.-The extraordinary Council of Ministers, held today on the occasion of International Women's Day, has approved a Royal Decree, promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service and by the Ministry of Equality, which approves the Protocol on Action against Sexual Harassment and Sexual Harassment in the General Administration of the State (AGE) and its public bodies.
The protocol reaches the Council of Ministers after having been previously agreed with the representatives of public employees at the Negotiating Table of the General State Administration and, in particular, at the Technical Commission for Equal Opportunities and Treatment between Women and Men. In addition, it complies with the obligations acquired in two organic laws: LO 3/2007 for the effective equality of women and men and LO 10/2022 for the comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom.
With regard to its scope of application, the protocol will apply to all personnel of the General State Administration and public agencies and also to people who provide services or collaborate with the AGE or with some of its agencies, such as people in training, those who perform non-work practices, etc.
The general objective of the protocol is to avoid possible situations of sexual harassment and harassment on the basis of sex in the General Administration of the State and in the bodies linked to or dependent on it, and to address them effectively in the event that they occur. To this end, eight specific objectives are developed:
- To promote the preventive culture of sexual and/or gender-based harassment in all areas and levels of the General State Administration.
- To express the zero tolerance of the General Administration of the State in the face of situations of sexual and gender-based harassment that may be detected at any level of the organization.
- To facilitate the identification of conduct constituting harassment in its various forms of sexual and gender-based harassment.
- Implement a simple, fast, accessible and confidential mechanism that allows victims of harassment to make a notification of the situation they are suffering.
- Inform, train and sensitize employees and public employees about sexual harassment and sexual harassment, giving guidelines to identify such situations, prevent them and prevent them from occurring
- To clarify internally, in an agile, rapid and confidential manner, the communications of harassment in order to clarify if there has been a situation of sexual and/or sexual harassment.
- Guarantee the safety, integrity and dignity of the people involved, the application of the measures that in each case may be appropriate for the protection of victims at all times, supporting the person who has suffered harassment to avoid their secondary victimization.
- Monitor the actions derived from the activation of the protocol.
Among the principles enshrined in the Protocol is that of the obligation of public employees to report cases of possible sexual harassment or harassment on the basis of sex that they know, for which a simple and confidential mechanism must be established; the obligation for the administration to attend to and process, where appropriate, the notifications it receives on cases of sexual harassment or harassment on the basis of sex, within its competence, ensuring that its actions do not deprotect the victim; and the need to undertake the actions quickly, ensuring - except justified exceptions - that a report on the case will be prepared within 10 days from the communication or request for activation of the protocol.
The entry into force of the protocol will take place within six months of the publication of this RD in the BOE. At that time, each ministerial department and public body must adapt the protocol to their specific needs and ensure its effective implementation, through working procedures, instructions or other appropriate tools.