Sexual harassment: Not banter, not funny

Nearly two in three young women, and predominantly those in zero hours’ contracts or agency work, are sexually harassed at work, a TUC survey has revealed.

The TUC’s research, in partnership with Everyday Sexism Project, has found that 52 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment at work, and, despite this alarming figure, only one per cent of those reported it to a union rep.

“This is likely because of how humiliating and frightening sexual harassment can often feel, but this research also tells us that younger women and those working in zero hours contracts or agency work are often the victims of this harassment – people who are distinctly less likely to be a union member,” a Unite spokesperson says.

“Unite has made many inroads in its campaign to prevent and tackle sexual harassment at work – we have signed a number of workplace agreements and trained our reps and members to recognise and appropriately deal with sexual harassment cases.

“But it is vital that all employers, managers and supervisors are also trained in the same way, and that the message is sent to all our members, across all sectors, that their union can support them in these circumstances.”

Extensive research

In what is one of the most extensive pieces of research on sexual harassment at work in Europe, the TUC survey suggests a serious problem in employers’ lack of urgency in dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace, and that it is more common in male-dominated industries.

A Unite rep at an engineering company, described the sexual harassment he witnessed his colleague face.

“An older man who worked here began speaking to one of our female electrical fitters in completely inappropriate ways; making innuendoes and smarmy comments about her,” he says.

“The sexual harassment she went through was relentless. Then one day he smacked her on her bottom and jeered at her. She did her best to stand her ground, but in the end she felt really run down by his behaviour and came to me for help.

“We went to management but they didn’t seem to care. It was dismissed as trivial and unimportant, written off as workplace ‘banter’ and that the victim was overreacting,” he says.

It wasn’t until further action was taken through Unite to protect the woman that the harassment was finally stopped. Unfortunately by then the she was so unhappy that she felt she had to leave her job.

The TUC survey has shown that women of all ages, social grades, and ethnicities experienced sexual harassment in all sectors, industries and regions, and that for many women, sexual harassment is not a one-off incident, but something that has happened to them many times during their working lives.

Eleven per cent of women working in retail and nine per cent of those working in health services said the sexual harassment they experienced was from a third party – a customer or client.

Unlawful

The Equality Act made this form of harassment unlawful in 2010, with a “three strike and you are booked” clause in Section 40 of the Act – meaning an employee had to have been harassed three times and have informed the employer on all occasions before it could be taken seriously.

“But despite overwhelming opposition, even this small lifeline was repealed by the Tory government in 2013, who claim it is ‘unfair that employers should be liable for the actions of third parties over whom they have no direct control,’” a Unite spokesperson says.

“So it is more vital than ever that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the TUC to get the message out that the trade union movement will not tolerate any form of sexual harassment and will irrevocably support all our members who may become victims.”

Are you affected by sexual harassment at work? We’d like to hear from you – contact us or send  your story to unitelive@unitetheunion.org