Charlotte, 37, was working at a private members’ organisation when a member she was having a meeting with said to her, ‘If I grabbed you right now, people would say I’d “done a Weinstein.”’ She told her CEO immediately, but he did nothing. Soon afterwards, she left her role and, in her leaving card, the CEO called her a ‘feminist killjoy’. She tells Grazia, ‘I was made to feel like I was making a massive fuss over something funny.’
‘I was made to feel like I was making a massive fuss over something funny.’
It’s a too familiar story. According to 2017 statistics from the BBC, half of all women have experienced workplace sexual harassment (ranging from inappropriate comments to actual sexual assaults), and of these, one in 10 had been sexually assaulted at work. Of all those harassed, 63% didn’t tell anyone; certainly not their employer. Recent research shows that even when grievance procedures are followed, 62% of all lawsuits alleging workplace sexual discrimination are settled out of court. Coupled with non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), these settlements’ details are often hushed up.
In other words, even when women speak out about harassment, companies can keep it a secret. But one huge authority wants to hear your stories – the Government. Thanks to one of Theresa May’s last decisions while Prime Minister, our Brexit-addled rulers have to hear women out. The Consultation on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, which closes on 2 October, is an online questionnaire inviting everyone to tell the powers that be what sexual harassment is really like.
Once responses are collated, the Government – whoever that may be by that point – will be under pressure to patch up current harassment laws. At the moment, employers must take ‘all reasonable steps to prevent harassment of its employees’, a phrase vague enough to mean it’s perfectly legal to respond to allegations of sexual harassment simply by moving the alleged perpetrator to another desk.
Emma*, a 28-year-old interior designer, was at a work event when a colleague ‘brushed past me, then whispered in my ear, “I like the way your boobs feel against my hand,”’ she says. ‘It was so awkward and uncomfortable.’ When she told her bosses, they warned this colleague and he ‘semi- apologised’, says Emma.
'62% of all lawsuits alleging workplace sexual discrimination are settled out of court.'
Just two weeks later, a female colleague called out another staff member for touching her legs in front of clients. Was it a ‘reasonable step’ for her bosses to have warned just one colleague about his behaviour, or should they have provided company-wide anti-sexual harassment training? The #ThisIsNotWorking campaign, co-run by many women’s organisations, thinks the latter. Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women’s rights, tells Grazia, ‘It’s vital that the Government introduces a duty on employers to take steps to prevent harassment. That duty needs to be backed up by real action, to make the right not to be harassed at work a reality.’
Sexual harassment happens daily. Women can expect it from customers and clients as well as colleagues. Currently, when Emma visits work sites on her job, it’s not illegal for builders to call her ‘princess’ or ‘bossy’ – and Charlotte’s bosses at the members’ club weren’t legally responsible for the member who threatened to ‘grab’ her, since he wasn’t an employee.
It’s an area the consultation promises to address, which could result in the reintroduction of a law that would ban this type of third-party harassment. This means that bosses like Charlotte’s – and yours – would have to make sure that anyone you work with, regardless of whether they’re employed by the same company, wasn’t harassing you. In stark contrast to that, Charlotte was so gaslit by her employer’s blithe attitude towards her allegations that she doubted her instincts. ‘It was only when I told friends what had happened that I realised it was sexual harassment,’ she says. Even with the valued whisper network of other women to back us up, she says, ‘It takes so long for people to say, “This wasn’t OK.”’
Another problem that the consultation aims to address is the limited timescale within which victims can complain. Currently, any victim of harassment has just three months to file a claim to an employment tribunal. Rights of Women, which provides free legal advice to female victims of workplace sexual harassment, is campaigning for an extension. ‘This three-month time limit unnecessarily penalises women and means that getting justice is a race against the clock,’ says Deeba Syed, senior legal officer of the charity. ‘A lot of women are signed off sick from work due to the stress and anxiety of having to deal with the sexual harassment, or they have to complete a complaints process with their employer that often takes longer than three months.
Lastly, the consultation could help close a loophole that exempts interns and volunteers from protection. Gina, 30, now a film-maker, was a 21-year-old low-paid worker when a shoot over-ran. With no easy way home, she had to stay at the 50-year-old director’s house. ‘He was meant to be looking out for me, like a mentor, but he instead came on to me. He said inappropriate things and offered me a foot massage, and I had to literally push him off. I felt completely uncomfortable, threatened and unsafe. I tried my best to talk him out of it, but it was so f**ked-up and nasty.’
'A lot of women are sign off sick from work due to the stress and anxiety of having to deal with the sexual harassment.'
The next morning, ‘The director tried to brush it off. It was only when I left that I burst into tears.’ Since she didn’t have a proper contract, her employer was under no obligation to do anything ‘reasonable’ in response to her complaint. Thankfully, they did anyway – they dismissed the director – but at a different company she might not have been so lucky.
So will a consultation bring real change? Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who has called female politicians ‘hot totty’ and once joked of a colleague, ‘Just pat her on the bottom’ – might not seem like the natural person to deliver a sexual harassment consultation. However, Minister for Women Victoria Atkins maintains that it will be taken seriously. ‘We should all feel safe at work,’ she says. ‘Sexual harassment is disgusting and it must stop. We want to hear from everyone on how the current laws can be improved to ensure that grubby, threatening and abusive behaviour is stamped out in the workplace.’
If you’ve ever felt intimidated, degraded, humiliated or offended due to any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature at work, or been silenced, ignored or laughed at after trying to speak out, this consultation is for you. If you want to show our Government exactly what happens when companies ignore their female workforce’s safety and wellbeing, this consultation is for you. So fill in the form today.
Find the Consultation on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, closing 2 October, at gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace