Preventing Sexual Harassment Needs HR Sexpertise

It’s the 1990s. Lawyers are in a busy pub. A randy judge is introduced to a twentysomething female lawyer. “You’re too pretty to be a lawyer. What’s your line? Usual women’s stuff, family, divorce?”

“Sexual harassment,” says the female lawyer played by Helen Baxendale to shut him up in the 1996 TV drama Truth or Dare. Even after 30 years, it’s an apt title to convey the perils of making an allegation of sexual harassment at work and an employment tribunal. Daring to tell your version of the truth about a deeply personal, often humiliating experience, knowing the process may be adversarial, intrusive and emotionally taxing.

Unlike the game truth or dare, you didn’t volunteer to play. The “choice” is forced by circumstances, not fun. If you tell your truth, you will face questions and if your answers fail to satisfy the decision makers or employment tribunal, your reputation may be dirtied, giving the harasser the power as they dared you to do something and the physical and mental challenges you went through resulted in more pain.

I was listening to the Financial Times’ interview with the creators of TV drama Industry, which is set in the backstabbing, high pressure, glamorous world of high finance with episodes involving sexual harassment. The creators said people always ask them how real the show is. They say it is a mirror held up to reality. The newspaper headlines suggest sexual harassment does happen.

This is real life

But it’s real life, not a game or a television drama designed to keep you watching with character arcs and a thrilling denouement. I believe in justice, due process, the right to have your say and to let the facts do the talking. Their version of the truth versus yours — unless the case settles, and the non‑disclosure agreement quietly holds the truth the system couldn’t surface, paying you restitution for an ordeal not formally recognised.

Easy for me to say, I have never been the complainant or respondent in a sexual harassment case. If you are the “HR expert” in a town hall call, how much do you know about preventing sexual harassment, formal investigations and litigation? I have been refreshing my memory about the legal process as I believe HR professionals should have close working relationships with lawyers and experience in investigations, hearings and employment tribunals.

I can recite the CIPD definition that sexual harassment is unwanted attention that violates a person’s dignity or creates an offensive or degrading environment. Sexual harassment makes the person, or persons, affected feel uncomfortable, threatened or offended. It is the effect that matters regardless of whether or not the effect was intended.

But classroom learning fades. Slide pack knowledge lingers in the back of your mind. What happens with sexual harassment claims? My Copilot search tells me the claimant must present facts from which the tribunal could conclude that sexual harassment occurred. The burden of proof then shifts to the employer to prove that the conduct did not happen, or it happened but was not harassment.

Did it happen?

According to a blog by Irwin Mitchell, a law firm, “although the percentage of claims has increased and looks to be rising further, the numbers are still low compared to the actual number of workers who experience sexual harassment”. That blog was published back in October 2024 when employers were publishing intranet news stories, rolling out training and updating policies to show how they will comply with the legal duty to proactively prevent sexual harassment from occurring at work by colleagues, customers or clients. Risk registers, presentations and learning lessons to get better at changing cultures, management interventions, investigations and outcomes.

The Employment Rights Bill, will further increase employer obligations:

• Whistleblowing protections: From April 2026, reporting sexual harassment will be explicitly covered under whistleblowing legislation

• ‘All reasonable steps’ duty: By October 2026, the legal duty will extend from taking ‘reasonable steps’ to ‘all reasonable steps’, increasing what is expected of employers

• Non-disclosure agreements: Employees who are subject to harassment or discrimination will no longer be silenced by NDAs, ensuring victims can speak out and make protected disclosures.

An unsuccessful sexual harassment grievance or claim does not mean the act did not happen. It only means the decision manager or tribunal were not satisfied, on the legal standard of proof, that the claim could be upheld. That’s a very different conclusion from “it didn’t happen.”

The absence of witnesses or documentation is common and it makes claims harder to prove, not less true. However, some people cannot resist leaving a trail of evidence behind them in words, images and voice notes, which may or may not be open to interpretation. It can happen to anyone, both genders, all sexual orientations and identifications.

Let’s tackle this together

Sometimes it isn’t sexual harassment and vexatious and malicious allegations can happen. There are always counter arguments and malcontent individuals misusing polices and legislation designed to protect us and hold people accountable for their actions. When you weigh bogus allegations and the “weaponisation” of sexual harassment against the grievances, disciplinaries, employment tribunals and the unreported cases that happen in the shadows, you understand why employers are shining a light on risks, prevention and action to prevent it.

If you are on the receiving end of sexual harassment, you may not consider yourself a victim or survivor, as no one or nothing stops you from being you. Sexual harassment can come in any many guises and don’t forget sexual exploitation and sexual assaults in the workforce and against customers in places like hotels, hospitals and police stations. Sexual problems lurk everywhere that may involve police investigations which will need HR advice.

Sexual relationships between CEOs and employees, even if consensual, have become a major risk factor for leadership, often leading to forced resignations, terminations and severe reputational damage to companies. Do you know about love contracts signed by co-workers in a romantic relationship to confirm the relationship is voluntary and consensual?

Are you an HR sexpert?

Being an HR expert in sexual harassment and associated sexual matters affecting the employment relationship could become a specialism that is much in demand. Akin to TUPE, organisational design and understanding off-payroll working (IR35). Knowledge workers with the sex factor on a mission to make work safer for everyone.

The truth is that employers need to take all reasonable steps to tackle sexual harassment. Do you dare not to? If you want to have your say, get involved in my podcast and articles on understanding and preventing sexual harassment at work.

Disclaimer: The content of this blog is entirely my opinion and does not reflect the opinions of any organisations I am affiliated with.