The latest ONS crime statistics for England and Wales estimate that one in eight women over 16 were victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking in the year to March. Usdaw's own research found that nearly three-quarters of women members aged under 25 had experienced sexual harassment at work over a 12- month period.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “As part of our mission to tackle the national emergency of violence against women and girls, we have made sure that for the first time the figures are being recorded in a combined way. We have already started to put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and invested in major new perpetrator programmes.”
Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “This a significant step forward in tackling violence against women and girls. Gathering the evidence and making the results part of the quarterly crime survey shows that this Government is serious about delivering on its landmark goal to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. This is a long-overdue reform.
“Furthermore, Labour’s Employment Rights Bill will, for the first time ever, require employers to create and maintain workplaces free from harassment by customers and other third parties. This has been a long-standing demand from Usdaw, but has attracted loud and persistent opposition from Conservative and Reform parliamentarians, who wrongly describe it as a ‘ban on banter’. My view is if you don’t know the difference between banter and harassment, then you’re probably part of the problem.
“We know that women workers who interact with the public as part of their job are at a far greater risk of experiencing abuse and harassment. Young women are at particular risk and are often being left to deal with harassment from customers on their own. They can be afraid to challenge the behaviour because this puts them in a very vulnerable position, especially if the customer complains.
“Studies show that gender-based violence, of which sexual harassment is a part, hugely affects women and girls and can lead to negative psychological, emotional or physical health impacts. Labour’s new legislation banning third-party harassment is long overdue and very welcome. Companies must now make sure managers get the training they need to understand their legal duties and to take a proactive approach to putting an end to sexual harassment in the workplace, and that is best delivered by working together with a trade union.”
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