A woman was really angry this morning. Furious. I offered her my blog to unleash. She has done so brilliantly. Take it away @JanSwatridge (Twitter)
I lead a very quiet life. Living on a barge in rural Northern Ireland and travelling the waterways along the River Shannon from April to October.
You would think not much riles me and for the most part you would be rightI But today, today was different.
This excellent article by Helen Saxby not only caught my attention it raised the temperature around here!
https://thecritic.co.uk/joining-the-dots-on-sexism/
It contained this gem from the Equality Act of 2010 Section 26 (99) Examples of what might be deemed harrassment for the purpose of the Act. The capitals are mine.
‘An employer who displays any material of a sexual nature, such as a topless calendar, may be harassing HER employees where this makes the workplace an offensive place to work for any employee, female or male’.
I can’t help but wonder if, when this was drafted, it was someone’s idea of a joke?
I understand it is wrong to make assumptions and but I absolutely do not believe that women are so predominantly guilty of displaying offensive calendars in the workplace that they are used in this example imbedded in UK law.
In July 2018 UK Parliament agreed.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmwomeq/725/72504.htm#_idTextAnchor003
Men can also be victims of sexual harassment (perpetrated by both women and men), and women can be perpetrators (against both men and women).We acknowledge a risk that portraying it as an issue that only affects women could discourage male victims from reporting complaints. However, women are significantly more likely to experience sexual harassment than men. Perpetrators are disproportionately men.Sexual harassment can be considered both a cause and consequence of sex inequality, and some of the evidence we received drew links between sexual harassment and other manifestations of gender inequality in the workplace such as the gender pay gap and the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles.
So, please, let’s not put the blame for this culture on women and perpetuate the myth that we are guilty of sexual harassment at an equivalent level of being recipients of sexual harassment. And certainly not for the Government Department entrusted to ensure equality to ignore reality in favour of ticking a perceived fairness box.
Jan Swatridge
30 April 2022