Legal advice line on sexual harassment at work launched

A free legal advice line for women in England and Wales experiencing sexual harassment at work has been launched today.

The legal advice will be provided by legal staff employed by the organisation Rights of Women and volunteer women employment lawyers through a dedicated telephone line. Women calling will be able to get specialist legal advice on what behaviour constitutes sexual harassment, how to bring a grievance against their employer, how to make a claim in the Employment Tribunal, settlement agreements and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other related legal problems faced by women experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace.

The advice line is funded by the TIME’S UP UK Justice and Equality Fund, managed by Rosa, the UK Fund for Women and Girls, kickstarted by donations from British actor and activist Emma Watson and others.

The money for this fund was donated by the public after the scale of the problem of sexual harassment was revealed by the #MeToo movement.

Actor, activist and TIME’S UP UK catalyst Emma Watson says: “I’m honestly delighted that the funds raised by the public through the Justice and Equality Fund, which TIME’S UP UK catalysed in collaboration with women’s organisations, is powering the only free, specialist legal advice line for women in England and Wales experiencing sexual harassment at work.

“However, it’s completely staggering to think that this is the only service of its type given that research has found that as many as one in two women experience sexual harassment in the workplace. It finally feels like people are realising the scale of the problem, and I’m certainly hopeful that with global standards such as the recent International Labour Organization treaty on harassment at work, we’ll start to see a new climate of prevention and accountability on this issue domestically.

“Understanding what your rights are, how you can assert them, and the choices you have if you’ve experienced harassment, is such a vital part of creating safe workplaces for everyone, and this advice line is such a huge development in ensuring that all women are supported, wherever we work.”

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