The law on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace is changing.
On 26 October 2024 the new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into force. The Act introduces a new positive legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to protect their workers from sexual harassment.
What is Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is behaviour which is unwanted and of a sexual nature, which:
- violates someone’s dignity (whether intended or not) and/or
- creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment (whether intended or not)
National Statistics
- Overall, 1 in 10 people aged 16 years and over experienced at least one form of harassment that made them feel upset, distressed, or threatened in the previous 12 months.
- More women (8%) than men (3%) experienced sexual harassment.
- Three quarters (75%) of victims of harassment experienced this behaviour in person, whereas approximately one in five experienced it online (21%).
- A quarter (26%) of those who had experienced sexual harassment said they had experienced harassment at their place of work.
(ONS: Experiences of harassment in England and Wales: December 2023)
The Equality Act
The Equality Act (2010) protects people against sexual harassment at work. Some forms of sexual harassment are crimes as they automatically break criminal law in England and Wales. Other forms of sexual harassment might also break criminal law, depending on the situation.
Employers must do all they reasonably can to protect staff from sexual harassment and take steps to prevent it happening.
As recent signatories to the Healthcare Sexual Safety Charter, Vita Health Group are committed to raising awareness of sexual harassment, preventing it and protecting its colleagues from harm.
Preventive steps:
Vita is taking a number of steps to prevent sexual harassment in it’s workplaces:
- Employee training
- Collaborative policy development
- Awareness campaigns
- Improved reporting and monitoring mechanisms
- Greater consideration of intersectional issues
Support:
Experiencing sexual harassment can affect people in many ways, both emotionally and physically. If you have been affected by any of the content of this article help and support is available here:
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