Nikki Pound explains that the task now is to translate new protective legislation into action
It has been over a year since the Worker Protection Act came into effect. The Act places a legal duty on employers to prevent the sexual harassment of their staff and is something that trade unions, working with civil society, fought hard to win. It is an anticipatory duty, meaning employers must think and act proactively regarding workplaces and what actions they can take to reduce the risk of sexual harassment happening in the first place.
The Employment Rights Bill will further strengthen the law by introducing protections from third parties such as customers and clients, clarifying protections for whistleblowers in cases of sexual harassment, banning the misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements, often used to silence women, and setting out “all reasonable steps” that employers must take to create a safer working environment.
A proactive approach is vital if we really want to tackle sexual harassment. Because the only way you can prevent sexual harassment is by being proactive and taking practical action to challenge the cultures that enable it.
Sexual harassment doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s not about sex, it’s about power. It’s about putting people, predominantly women, in their so-called “place”. It often intersects with other forms of discrimination as highlighted by TUC research on disabled women’s experiences, Black women’s experiences, young workers experiences and LGBT+ workers experiences.
It thrives because of cultures that allow it; cultures that tolerate inappropriate “banter”, cultures that turn a blind eye or make excuses for bad behaviour, cultures that treat victim-survivors like they are the problem, not the perpetrator. Our 2016 research report “Still Just a Bit of Banter” found that half of women have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace, but four out of five do not report to their employer, often because of well-founded fears that they will be further victimised and treated badly rather than supported for coming forward.
That is why we fought for, and won, the preventative duty. Because women should not have to shoulder the burden of dealing with and challenging sexual harassment and the cultures that enable it alone. And the workplace is an integral part of tackling sexual harassment and violence against women and girls more broadly.
Many people enter the world of work in their teens and spend many decades in the workplace. Workplace culture and work peers can have a profound effect not only on people’s personal experiences but also on their own understanding of issues, attitudes and behaviours. We know this as trade unions. That’s why we organise, why we take collective action and why we offer solidarity.
Everyone interacts with other people’s workplaces, whether it’s a school, a hospital, or GP surgery, a bar or restaurant, a shop, a call centre, a local theatre, a sports stadium or a trade union.
Challenging sexual harassment and the cultures that enable it in the workplace has the potential to not just make those workplaces safer for the people working there but can also have a ripple effect, positively impacting and challenging attitudes and behaviours across society more broadly.
But with a recent Unite survey of nearly 300,000 women members across 19 sectors finding that sexual harassment remains endemic across workplaces in the UK, and with little evidence that employers are taking their legal responsibilities seriously, effective implementation and enforcement of the preventative duty and the strengthened protections in the Employment Rights Bill cannot come soon enough. They are vital if we are really serious about tackling sexual harassment.
That is why the TUC has and will continue to campaign for a risk-based approach, safe reporting routes, transparent, fair processes for dealing with issues when they do happen, appropriate training for everyone in the workplace and ensuring this is an ongoing endeavour, not a one-off tick box. We also need to ensure that the law can be enforced, which means proper funding of regulatory bodies and the tribunal system.
As trade unions, tackling sexual harassment must be part of our bargaining agenda and embedded within our own structures – trade unions can help to drive the culture change that is so desperately needed to tackle sexual harassment.
Winning game-changing legislation is a crucial first step, now we must ensure it has a real-world impact and make workplaces safer for everyone.