Preventing Sexual Harassment Preview

‘If you wouldn't want your parents or CEO seeing it, why are you sending it? And quite often what you find is people will pick and choose who they are going to send those pictures to, otherwise your dick pic would be your screensaver and on your CV.’

I wish I came up with that line for my Watching Working Living podcast on preventing sexual harassment at work. Alas it was my special guest Zoe Thomas, the founder of the sexual abuse prevention consultancy Hidden in Plain Sight. My other guest speakers are Jess Sandham of Human by Practice; John Walne, a workplace investigator; Emma Hutchinson, a workplace investigator; Georgie Watts, a former police sergeant and Jonathan Stutz from Global Diversity Partners

The podcast is now days away from dropping. It’s time to spray the bullet points from legislation, guidance and slide packs around workplaces and society to make all the training and communication count. One reasonable step at a time until all reasonable steps are taken to keep people safe in the course of their employment.

The Equality & Human Rights Commission Sexual harassment and harassment at work: technical guidance is thorough and makes you realise how complex preventing sexual harassment can be.

I might be a seasoned HR professional who has completed the training, read the Employer 8-step guide: Preventing sexual harassment at work and given presentations, but if you cut through the headlines, how much do I know? Not enough. I wanted to go beyond paper-based knowledge to keep the human in the loop.

Digging Deep

This is why I worked with my AI co‑presenter, Ada Multilingual, to produce a podcast on identifying, investigating and preventing sexual harassment. It is bigger, longer, harder, better and so good. It could be called a podumentary as it digs deep to give the human perspective on the challenges of embedding sexual‑harassment prevention at work.

‘The gap between experiencing something and reporting it is usually a trust gap,’ said Jess Sandham. ‘What I’ve noticed is that the conversation has shifted from being reactive - responding to incidents that have already happened in the workplace - to becoming more proactive, thinking about how to prevent sexual harassment from happening in the first place. Whether that actually translates into genuine culture change is a different question.’

My campaign to raise awareness of sexual harassment at work sometimes feels like it is bouncing between office walls waiting to find an audience. This podcast can change that situation because of my contributors sharing their insights and expertise. I know what I am doing matters when I read articles like How Crispin Odey evaded sexual assault allegations for decades, Sexual harassment of NHS staff widespread and McDonald's staff subject to sexual harassment in a toxic workplace and Why so many witnesses of sexual harassment stay silent.

Investigations and Personal Insights

You might think it is sexual harassment. An investigation can make sure… hopefully. ‘If organisations are going to rely on internal investigators, I'd say they really need to invest in capability,’ said Emma Hutchinson.

John Walne said: ‘Employers should ensure that appropriate welfare support is in place for employees who come forward reporting sexual harassment. The impact of a traumatic event can go far beyond the incident itself, so employers need to be aware of their responsibilities.’

I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to share their personal experience of sexual harassment. Instead, I spoke to Georgie Watts, a former police sergeant in Northampton, about being a woman in the police. ‘People are starting to pick up more on what’s a warning sign versus what’s a bit of a joke between friends. And there certainly have been occasions during the 12 years I was a police officer where there was sexualised banter perpetrated towards me. That wasn’t banter; it wasn’t funny.’

Georgie gives a balanced perspective on police culture and says she would encourage anyone to join the police and not believe everything they read in the headlines.

CEO Accountability

The Coldplay Kiss Cam story and the revolving door of CEOs who lost their jobs for breaching love contracts and lying about affairs and relationships. ‘Let’s be clear: you cannot regulate human chemistry. People will form connections at work because they spend enormous amounts of time together. Policies don’t stop relationships -they simply create clarity. The real risk isn’t the relationship; it’s when secrecy and conflicts of interest occur,’ said Jonathan Stutz.

You can find out more when the podcast drops. My sexual‑harassment prevention campaign attracted the interest of the law firm Joseph & Norinsberg in New York, who asked me to promote its Guide to Reporting Sexual Harassment at Work Without Losing Your Job. Trying to figure out how to report sexual harassment at work without losing your job can be confusing and frightening. You may be conflicted over whether what you’re experiencing even qualifies as harassment, or fearful that your employer will retaliate against you, putting your livelihood at stake.

I am not a lawyer, but if I can help prevent sexual harassment in the UK or USA, let’s talk.