Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “Sexual harassment primarily affects women and girls and is targeted disproportionately at the most vulnerable workers. Young, disabled, Black Minority Ethnic and LGBT+ women are most at risk as they are more likely to be marginalised in their workplaces and lack power.
“There is a link between working in a public-facing role and being exposed to third-party harassment. Where the perpetrator is a third party, women are even more reluctant to report the incident because they believe it will not be dealt with in the same way as it would were the harasser an employee.
“We acknowledge the crucial role the EHRC will play in monitoring and enforcing the new preventative duty. Trade unions also have a key role to play establishing what preventative steps employers are taking now that the duty has come into effect. As a bare minimum, employers must take reports of harassment seriously and should be clear what they expect supervisors and managers to do.
“Usdaw is asking conference delegates to join a call on the Labour Government, in consultation with trade unions, to reintroduce explicit protections from third-party harassment and give consideration as to how managers and supervisors are trained to ensure proper support for staff.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter/X @UsdawUnion