It’s National Personal Safety Day 2022. Violent, aggressive, sexual and unwanted behaviours are perpetrated against employees working or on their way to work in the night-time economy, says the anti-stalking and safety charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
A survey by YouGov for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and supported by the lone worker safety product company Peoplesafe found that women are more likely than men to have experienced harassment within or on their way to their workplace; 44pc of women reported having experienced harassment compared with 26pc of men. In most reported cases of harassment (83pc), the perpetrator was a man. Of the 1768 night-time economy workers surveyed, one third (34pc) had experienced some form of unwanted behaviour while working, or on their way to work, and 15pc of respondents had experienced sexual harassment (28pc of women).
Of respondents who had been harassed, 60pc had never reported their experiences to their employer, commonly citing a lack of faith that action would be taken. Likewise, three quarters of respondents who had been harassed whilst working or travelling to work in the night-time economy had not reported it to the police.
Suky Bhaker, CEO of Suzy Lamplugh Trust, says: “We are extremely concerned by the findings of our research, which demonstrate that harassment of night-time economy workers is widespread and under-reported, with women being more likely to experience harassment than men. Testimonies from victims indicated a lack of faith in both employers and the police to tackle these behaviours and take reports seriously. This is not good enough. We urge the government and employers to take all reasonable steps to stamp out workplace harassment via a robust legislative framework, policy and support to help shift the pervasive culture of abuse within the night-time economy. Every employee deserves to be free from violence, aggression and harassment.”
The charity is supporting a Private Members’ Bill by the Lib Dem MP for Bath Wera Hobhouse (the Worker Protection Bill). It would place a preventative duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to stop workplace sexual harassment while also protecting women from sexual harassment from third parties, including clients, customers and patients.
The charity calls on employers to take all reasonable steps to combat harassment within the workplace and asks for urgent legislative change to criminalise and prevent such unwanted behaviours both in the workplace and in public spaces.
The Trust’s policy recommendations are:
The government should work with specialist services to ensure there is a national framework on tackling harassment that can be implemented within businesses. This framework would build on best practice from initiatives such as the Women’s Night Safety Charter, including rolling out bystander training (as featured in the May print edition of Professional Security magazine).
Legislative change is urgently needed to ensure individuals’ right to safety within public spaces. It is imperative that the Government supports proposals to make public sexual harassment a standalone offence.
The Government should urgently ring-fence funding for women and girls’ safety on public transport across the UK, and continue funding for safer public spaces such as through the Safer Streets Fund. Transport services must provide regular, safe routes home from work, such as 24-hour transport systems.
The Government and employers should collect and publish data on the prevalence of workplace harassment, including sexual harassment, and the impact on those who experience it to support more victims.
Employers should publish their personal safety policy. If employers do not have any policy in place, such as the one advocated for through Suzy’s Charter, they should consult with specialists such as the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to introduce one.
About the survey
YouGov’s sample size was 4181 adults. Fieldwork was between September 23 and 26. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18-plus). Night-time economy is defined as anyone working for at least three hours within the hours of 8pm and 6am.
Photo by Mark Rowe; street art, Barcelona.
