Women and Equalities Committee inquiry
[ch 3: page 32]In July 2018, the Women and Equalities Committee published the results of its wide-ranging, six-month inquiry into sexual harassment at work. It found sexual harassment was “widespread and commonplace”, with 40% of women and 18% of men experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace.
It also reported a failure to tackle unlawful behaviours, despite government obligations under international law. It said employers and regulators had ignored their responsibilities for far too long, while often legal protections were not available to workers in practice.
The committee called for a number of legal and other changes, setting out a five-point plan to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace. The government committed to developing a statutory code of practice but failed to agree on a general duty to prevent sexual harassment. It also promised to strengthen the law on third party harassment.
Women and Equalities Committee, Sexual harassment in the workplace inquiry https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/sexual-harassment-workplace-17-19