{"id":14127,"date":"2017-12-11T16:31:12","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T16:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14127"},"modified":"2017-12-12T12:46:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T12:46:15","slug":"i-felt-humiliated-sexual-harrassment-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14127","title":{"rendered":"‘I felt humiliated’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an open secret \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most recently brought to public attention after allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that sexual harassment is common in workplaces around the world.<\/p>\n

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But in some industries, such as hospitality and other service sector jobs, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s virtually a daily reality.<\/p>\n

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The gravity of the situation is so great, it prompted hospitality worker and Unite rep Nilufer Guler to tell the BBC that she often feels more like a sex worker than a waitress.<\/p>\n

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A new poll<\/a> commissioned by the BBC \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the most in-depth of its kind \u00e2\u20ac\u201c surveyed thousands of UK workers about their experiences of sexual harassment at work. The survey found a shocking 40 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men have been sexually harassed at work.<\/p>\n

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But this figure skyrockets to 56 per cent for women working in hospitality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nilufer explained how waiters are often victims of sexual harassment from all sides \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they can be harassed by bosses, colleagues and very often customers, too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne table of three elderly very affluent men wearing suits \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they bought the right to humiliate me,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she recounted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey said to me, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Come join our table, come sit down, come take your waistcoat off, take all your clothes off.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI felt embarrassed; I felt humiliated; I felt disgusted,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was also aware that there was\u00c2\u00a0 very little I could do about it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and if I spoke out there would be very little done about it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The BBC poll found that those employed on precarious contracts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c say, agency, part-time or zero hours workers, as so many in hospitality are \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are much more likely to be harassed than those who are directly employed. While 43 per cent of workers on flexible contracts have said they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been sexually harassed, only about 30 per cent of those employed directly have been so.<\/p>\n

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Nilufer says that this is a natural consequence of working on an insecure contract where the balance of power is firmly on the side of the employer.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very little in the way of accountability processes,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she told BBC Breakfast this morning<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0(December 12). \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big culture of bullying and people take advantage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially of women, migrants, young people and students who work in these industries. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in fear of losing their hours; of losing their tips; losing their pay.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Nilufer said she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only just started a new job at a restaurant, where she was sexually harassed by customers on the second or third day she began work there.<\/p>\n

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Still, in the process she sold a very expensive steak and wine \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a sale that would, her bosses said, increase her share of the service charge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Sense of disposability’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a sense of disposability [in hospitality],\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the minimum wage, a higher share of the service charge could mean you paying your rent on time.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSexual harassment is so rife and seems to be totally acceptable,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Nilufer added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople change when they are put into this position of customer. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost a sort of bonding ritual to talk about a certain waitress.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A TUC report published last year<\/a> highlighted the problem of sexual harassment from third parties such as customers and clients, and urged the government to reinstate employers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 duty of care to protect their workers from being harassed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Section 40 of the Equality Act 2010 held that employers would be liable for third party harassment if there were two previous incidents of harassment (not necessarily from the same person); the employer was aware of the harassment; and the employer didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.<\/p>\n

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But in 2013, Section 40 was repealed despite the fact that 70 per cent of respondents to a government consultation opposed repealing it.<\/p>\n

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While a majority of women in the BBC survey said they were optimistic that the recent Hollywood scandals would lead to a big change in people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behaviour, there are still far too few people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c only 25 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who report sexual harassment when it happens to them, mostly out of fear. Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland explained that this is precisely why working practices must change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“The extent of sexual harassment being uncovered in the hospitality sector worldwide, as well as here, should raise alarm bells for everyone in the industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo one should have to suffer sexual harassment – but just saying this is not enough – we need action to protect at-risk workers and a major change to the working practices that make people more vulnerable to harassment, exploitation and abuse,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Holland added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite aims to prevent harassment, and to promote dignity and respect – as well as ensuring fair and effective confidential procedures, including a strong trade union voice, to deal with it when it does occur.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also need statutory rights for union equality representatives to back up Dignity at Work policies. And everyone – governments, employers and unions must ensure a strong international standard when they meet in June 2018. This will be a powerful opportunity to advance all our core labour rights with an ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment against Women and Men in the World of Work.”<\/p>\n

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Want to find out more about what unions are doing to end sexual harassment in the workplace? Join the TUC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s webinar on Thursday here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an open secret \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most recently brought to public attention after allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that sexual harassment is common in workplaces around the world.   But in some industries, such as hospitality and other service sector jobs, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s virtually a daily reality.   The gravity of the situation is so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[379,303,729,772,209],"wps_subtitle":"Sex harassment \u00e2\u20ac\u0098daily reality\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for hospitality staff","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14129,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14127\/revisions\/14129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}