Hospitality And Temporary Workers ‘More Likely To Stay Silent Over Sexual Harassment’, Experts Warn<\/b>
\nHollywood and Westminster have been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment, but it\u2019s junior staff and those on \u201cprecarious\u201d contracts across other sectors who are less likely to come forward through fear of losing their jobs, experts say.<\/p>\n
The power dynamic of sexual assault and the pattern for predators to target victims who don\u2019t always know their rights mean that the hospitality industry and workers on temporary or zero hour contracts are facing additional challenges when it comes to sexual harassment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t often find a cleaner, a temp worker, a zero hours retail person saying \u2018screw all of you guys<\/a>, I don\u2019t need a job\u2019. That\u2019s actually the opposite of what they\u2019re saying, which is actually \u2018I will do anything for a job, please just let me stay\u2019,\u201d Michael Newman, a discrimination and employment law specialist at Leigh Day, tells HuffPost UK.<\/p>\n A Trade Union Congress (TUC) report last year into sexual harassment found that 67% of women<\/a> in the hospitality and leisure industry reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment compared to an average of 52%.<\/p>\n The report found: \u201cPerpetrators of sexual harassment are often third parties. Women working in retail, hospitality, healthcare, care, transport and many other sectors deal with clients, patients, and customers on a daily basis and currently have little protection from their employer when facing harassment. Reintroducing a duty on employers to act where an employee is being harassed by a third party would be an important step in tackling workplace sexual harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether it involves filmmaking or bartending, a pattern appears to have emerged of powerful men<\/a> targeting women<\/a> – and at times, men<\/a> – who are less likely to make a fuss.<\/p>\n Experts suggest a culture of silence means that those who are financially vulnerable or more susceptible to losing their jobs often feel that they cannot report sexual harassment allegations.<\/p>\n Scarlet Harris, senior strategy and development officer at the TUC,\u00a0tells HuffPost UK: \u201cSexual harassment is very much about the power dynamic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s certainly younger women<\/a> that are likely to experience sexual harassment and I think it\u2019s fair to say that the more junior you are in an organisation, the more likely it is that you will experience sexual harassment, because of that power dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n This month has seen an avalanche of sexual harassment claims levelled against film producer\u00a0Harvey Weinstein\u00a0and last week it emerged that Westminster MPs have been caught up in allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n Danielle Parsons, an employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon,\u00a0says that, although no industry is immune from sexual harassment, more junior members of staff are more susceptible to such abuse because of the power dynamic.<\/p>\n Parsons says:\u00a0\u201cSexual harassment can occur across all industries but generally it would happen where you have that particular dynamic, you have someone in a position of power and you have somebody junior who is reporting to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris says that sexual harassment is \u201cabsolutely everywhere\u201d, but that agency workers, as well as those on temporary and zero hour contracts find it more difficult to report experiences of sexual harassment.<\/p>\n This is because the nature of temping means that staff are moving around in different oranisations, potentially finding themselves in a new workplace where they don\u2019t know anyone, the culture or who to report harassment allegations to.<\/p>\n \u201cVery often the perpetrators of sexual harassment are very good at honing in on the person who\u2019s least likely to know how to deal with it and will spot someone who is more vulnerable and will prey on them because they\u2019re an easy target,\u201d Harris says.<\/p>\n Furthermore, hospitality workers have the added risk of third party harassment.<\/p>\n Roles can include restaurant and bar staff, hotel workers and receptionists. Jobs where employees are working with customers who might be inebriated might also face additional unwanted attention, as customers might feel particularly entitled to make unsolicited advances.<\/p>\n Sexual harassment can be \u201chumiliating to the victim\u201d, Parsons says and can manifest itself in a number of ways, such as bullying, intimidating and offensive behaviour.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just women<\/a> that have sought Parson\u2019s help for sexual harassment. The solicitor says that on one occasion a male<\/a> secretary came to her about \u201cupsetting and intrusive comments\u201d made about his sexuality by his manager who was harassing him.<\/p>\n Newman says that, although he has not seen an increase in the number of clients coming forward, the problem \u201cisn\u2019t getting better\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen them drop off. It\u2019s sadly consistent, I think that\u2019s the problem,\u201d he tells HuffPost UK.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a steady trickle and it keeps happening. Every time a new complaint comes in it\u2019s like \u2018oh this is an industry I haven\u2019t see before, but why am I surprised?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n He agrees with Parsons and Harris that the more junior someone is the more prevalent sexual harassment may be, adding: \u201cThe opportunities for exploitation are greater.\u201d<\/p>\n But sexual harassment can happen \u201cright up the food chain\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who you think are very serious who, for a lot of their jobs call<\/a> the shots, but they will still be for some situations beholden to men<\/a> in positions of power and that\u2019s when things can happen, sadly,\u201d Newman says.<\/p>\n Newman admits that those who seek his help are often at a stage where they have the means to take the complaint further – an option that might not be available to those in a more vulnerable position, but financially and professionally.<\/p>\n \u201cOften if you are being harassed, if you are in your job and want to stay in your job, the chances are you\u2019re not going to complain,\u201d Newman says. \u201cAnd so of course I never hear about those. Those are people who don\u2019t tend to come to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Newman says people who are not worried about their career prospects being threatened, perhaps because they are leaving the sector, or people who have reached a certain level of security are more likely to come forward.<\/p>\n Examples of sexual harassment that he has dealt with varies, but includes lewd comments and innuendos, physical contact and even other advances, including non-consensual sexual conduct.<\/p>\n For employees experiencing sexual harassment at work, they don\u2019t have an unlimited amount of time to file a case with an employment tribunal.<\/p>\n The time limit currently stands at three months, although lawyers are urging that this cap be doubled.<\/p>\n Those who are experiencing sexual harassment at work are advised to talk to their manager, keep a record of any incidents and collect evidence of any inappropriate encounters and to talk to their trade union representative.<\/p>\n If you have been affected by sexual harassment at work but you felt you couldn\u2019t speak out about it, contact kathryn.snowdon@huffpost.com<\/a> Hospitality And Temporary Workers ‘More Likely To Stay Silent Over Sexual Harassment’, Experts Warn Hollywood and Westminster have been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment, but it\u2019s junior staff and those on \u201cprecarious\u201d contracts across other sectors who are less likely to come forward through fear of losing their jobs, experts say. The power dynamic … Continue reading Hospitality And Temporary Workers ‘More Likely To Stay Silent Over Sexual Harassment’, Experts Warn<\/span>
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\nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/hospitality-workers-temporary-staff-sexual-harassment-claims_uk_59f72f2de4b077d8dfcb0977<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"