{"id":23134,"date":"2020-08-07T13:16:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T12:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=23134"},"modified":"2020-08-07T13:16:40","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T12:16:40","slug":"how-the-govt-fails-to-take-women-seriously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=23134","title":{"rendered":"How the govt fails to take women seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A\u00c2\u00a0joint statement<\/a><\/u>\u00c2\u00a0earlier this week (August 5) by the TUC, Centenary Action Group, the Fawcett Society, Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Aid and trade unions representing parliamentary staff (Unite, Prospect, PCS and FDA) said sexual assault and harassment was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bendemic\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in parliament, as in other workplaces.<\/p>\n

The statement calling for action accuses the government of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bminimising violence against women and girls\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 by allowing the MP to keep the Conservative whip, saying there was a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfailure to believe victims and survivors when they bravely speak out\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and that \u00e2\u20ac\u015b\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6party politics was still interfering in justice and fairness.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

The recent #MeToo\u00c2\u00a0campaign highlighted how endemic and pervasive sexual harassment and assault still are in workplaces, including Parliament, and that women are the majority of victims.<\/p>\n

The joint statement referred to the 2018 House of Commons report which had revealed that 19 per cent of Westminster staff had experienced sexual harassment in a single year. The inquiry by\u00c2\u00a0Dame Laura Cox laid bare the scale of\u00c2\u00a0sexual harassment, intimidation and bullying in Westminster<\/a><\/u>\u00c2\u00a0and uncovered the culture of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098deference and silence\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 sought to cover up misconduct.<\/p>\n

The 2018 review into sexual harassment in parliament demonstrated legislative changes and action needed by all political parties to make parliament a safe workplace for women free from the threat of gender-based violence and harassment.<\/p>\n

In addition to suspension, the joint statement also calls for the Conservative Party to suspend the whip of the MP. As the EHRC \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Sexual harassment and harassment at work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Technical Guidance makes clear, in a matter as serious as this, it is wholly appropriate for such action to be taken ahead of the conclusion of a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

It urged all political parties to revise their own internal sexual harassment and complaint policies “to ensure that they are transparent, quick, victim-focused and independent, and cover volunteers, employees and elected and appointed representatives so that sexual harassment is prevented.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

I believe the handling of this serious allegation is yet another example of government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to take violence against women seriously.<\/p>\n

It is clear that more than two years after Dame Laura Cox\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s review, the culture that allows bullying, harassment and sexual harassment to thrive continues.<\/p>\n

Parliament cannot be allowed to continue to set itself apart from other workplaces and the safety and the safeguarding of our members, and of all staff, must be paramount.<\/p>\n

There remains an urgent need for the voice of staff to be amplified in this workplace and for them to be heard in the discussions of new processes and strategies needed in eliminating the culture of bullying and harassment.<\/p>\n

Parliament must provide a safe working environment for its employees and until it does it remains an unsafe and unequal workplace for our members.<\/p>\n

In 2013,\u00c2\u00a0the statistics bulletin on sexual violence<\/a> released by the ministry of justice, office for national statistics and home office\u00c2\u00a0revealed that only around 15 per cent of those who experience sexual violence report it to the police.<\/p>\n

READ THE STATEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00c2\u00a0joint statement<\/a> in response to rape and sexual assault allegations made against a Conservative MP\u00c2\u00a0in full.<\/p>\n

By Siobhan Endean,<\/em><\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0Unite national equalities officer <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00c2\u00a0joint statement\u00c2\u00a0earlier this week (August 5) by the TUC, Centenary Action Group, the Fawcett Society, Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Aid and trade unions representing parliamentary staff (Unite, Prospect, PCS and FDA) said sexual assault and harassment was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bendemic\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in parliament, as in other workplaces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[379,44,209],"wps_subtitle":"Unite national equalities officer, Siobhan Endean, writes on why charities and unions are calling on parliament to suspend the Tory MP accused of rape","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23134"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23136,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23134\/revisions\/23136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}