Content note: this article contains discussions of rape and sexual harassment that readers may find upsetting.

Ask a room full of women about the men they’ve been warned against over the years, and their stories will be eerily similar. We rely on growing ‘whisper networks’ of women who share hushed words of caution to protect their peers from harm. So often we hear: “The signs had been there all along, but why didn’t anyone do anything?” How, as we stand here today in 2023, have we found ourselves in a society where predatory men are still protected – be it by status or fear – and women are left to protect themselves and others?

This conversation has been brought to the fore following accusations against Russell Brand. As revealed in an investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4, the 48-year-old has been accused of sexually assaulting four women at the height of his fame, between 2006 and 2013; the accusations were aired in the Channel 4 documentary Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches last weekend. He strongly denies criminal wrongdoing.

During this period, Brand revelled in global success – he was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, and an actor in Hollywood films. But while he laughed and joked about his promiscuity on a frequent basis – often aided by a tabloid media who dubbed him ‘Shagger Of The Year’ on more than one occasion – it’s come to light that many around him, often women, were warned about his predatory behaviour.

Comedian London Hughes has said she was warned not to sleep with Brand by talent bosses when she was signed to his agency. “My first day at the agency I was told unprovoked that I shouldn’t sleep with him… as after he had sex with [women], they made him feel sick, so he would have them fired or dropped from the agency,” she wrote in a tweet. 

In the Dispatches documentary, comedian Daniel Sloss claimed women working on the comedy circuit would warn each other about Brand. Sloss said that many people in that industry were aware of his alleged abusive and coercive behaviour, adding: “For many, many years, women have been warning each other about Russell.” And herein lies the dangerous truth of a historic epidemic that is far from being adequately addressed.

Putting the allegations against Brand – which he has strongly denied – to one side, when we think back to other high-profile cases of those who have been accused of sexual misconduct in recent years, almost every one shares an uncomfortable sense that it was an ‘open secret’.

When Harvey Weinstein, who is currently sitting behind bars for three rape and sexual assault convictions, was first publicly accused of sexual abuse, a telling video resurfaced. In it, Courtney Love is stopped on a red carpet and asked if she has any advice for young girls moving to Hollywood. “If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party at the Four Seasons, don’t go,” she replies matter-of-factly. The footage is from 2005, 12 years before the New York Times broke the story. Similarly, in 2012, when the sexual assault accusations started rolling in against Jimmy Savile, a once powerful presenter who held an OBE, industry figures spoke about it being well-known as far back as the 1970s. These men were allowed to not only exist in workplaces but thrive – and they’re present today across all industries. 

“There have been a handful of men I’ve been warned off as part of ‘whisper networks’ in different offices I’ve worked in throughout my career,” says Emma*, 31, who works in journalism. “There’s the man I was told not to get in a lift alone with – charming but unpredictable. The man who would rank his female colleagues based on their appearance that day (try not to walk past that desk). The one who had an affair with his much younger colleague and was moved to a different department in an attempt to fix the problem (he was married). The one who would overtly stare at your boobs without so much as flinching as you spoke (always keep a cardigan on the back of your chair). The one to absolutely not share your personal mobile phone number with (he liked sending pictures of himself to staff). The thing that connects them all? Power. They were all men who were managers, leaders, editors or business owners. People were afraid of what would happen if they reported it.”   

Similarly, Lara*, 28, who works in marketing, recalls feeling deeply uncomfortable when her much older male colleagues in her former workplace would repeatedly make jokes at her expense. “It got to the level where I didn’t want to be in the office kitchen alone with another bloke making a cup of tea. But the ultimate red flag was when a colleague at our Christmas party asked to buy me a drink because of the ‘obvious sexual tension between us’. I laughed it off because I didn’t know what else to do, but it was unsettling,” she says. 

This story isn’t uncommon. Maggie*, 30, who works in finance, recalls being forewarned about a male colleague before a work drinks event last year. “I was told he was a bit handsy when he was drunk, but I didn’t think much of it at first,” she says. “Then, towards the end of the night, he followed me into the women’s bathrooms – I turned around and asked him what he was doing, and he quickly scarpered, but his intentions were obvious. I completely avoid him at work now. It makes me feel ashamed and awkward, even though I did nothing.”  

So why does society keep these men’s secrets? According to Vera Baird, the former victims’ commissioner who quit the role last year after calling out the government for downgrading victims’ interests, it’s all about power. “Allegations tend to be against men in senior positions, by women who are young and more junior, so everybody’s vested interest is with the man,” she says. “Whether he’s a partner in a law firm, or an MP, or a Russell Brand-type figure, he’s got admiration, funding and success; people’s careers will be attached to his. A lot of the time, it’s self-interest that underpins a society or system’s uber loyalty to successful men, no matter how terrible their behaviour.”  

Psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber agrees. “When the perpetrator is someone bright, effective and valuable in one way, then has these egregious traits in another, it can suit systems to enable them or look the other way,” she explains. “If they’re an asset who makes money for the business, it can be deemed more important to protect them.”

Worryingly, sexual harassment at work is not only common, it’s on the rise. According to a 2023 poll by the Trades Union Congress (TUC, a body which represents the UK’s major trade unions) surveying more than 1,000 women, three in five women say they have experienced sexual harassment at work – and this number increases to two in three women among 25–34-year-olds. Compare this with 2016’s figure, where half of all women surveyed had experienced workplace sexual harassment, and you’ll notice a concerning uptick.

In the past few months, we’ve seen major sexual violence allegations in the hospitality, medical and entertainment sectors. “It’s in all industries, across lots of different jobs,” explains Nikki Pound, the TUC’s women’s policy officer. “And we know that sexual harassment is part of a spectrum of behaviours, starting from the everyday sexism of ‘banter’ and speaking over women in meetings, right up to the serious allegations we’ve seen investigated recently.”  

These kinds of workplace figures – powerful men who seek to degrade, humiliate or bully women – are enabled by a culture of acceptance, explains Michaela-Clare Addison, national sexual violence lead at Victim Support. “If one person’s getting away with it, then of course the second, third, fourth person will likely get away with it, too. This all happens because there aren’t enough robust mechanisms in place to stop that behaviour from flourishing or becoming somewhat acceptable,” says Addison. And when a behaviour is normalised, it makes it all the more difficult to report or call out. According to the TUC’s 2023 survey, two-thirds of women who were sexually harassed at work didn’t report it to their employer.

The ‘whisper networks’ created by women to warn each other of “the guy you should stay away from” often fill the gaps left by inadequate workplace policy – a web of stories warning other women of a potential threat. Employers aren’t currently legally required to have any specific policies for dealing with sexual violence but, according to Proud, it’s not only the law that fails women. Even if employers do have policies in place, they often aren’t implemented effectively. “Employers may have a complaints procedure written down, but is it being enforced? And is it being acted upon? Or is it just a piece of paper they can point to?” she asks.  

Elma O’Reilly, an HR expert who’s managed policy for companies such as Nike, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, agrees. “It’s one thing to have policies in place, but if people don’t feel they can speak up and use them, they’re just there as a tick-box exercise.” The HR department is often at the centre of workplace sexual harassment scandals, with the onus, understandably, placed on this team to effectively handle allegations of sexual harassment and assault at work. “But it’s not just an HR problem,” explains O’Reilly, “it’s a company problem. We need to look at who owns this issue, and often, this kind of culture comes from the top.” 

It’s significant that the gender split of HR professionals in the UK undeniably skews female, with women accounting for 87.5% of HR administrators and 60.9% of HR managers or directors, according to the Office for National Statistics. A team of predominantly women, working in a company that has a problem with sexual harassment by senior male figures, for example, is almost certain to encounter problems when escalating allegations to the same cohort of senior figures. “It goes back to the culture of a business, and the entire company taking sexual violence policies seriously,” says O’Reilly.

So, what needs to change? According to Pound, employers taking a “risk-based approach” is key, meaning they should enact policies that not only lay out how to handle complaints of sexual violence if they arise, but pre-emptively put systems in place to prevent it from happening. “It’s all about having power over somebody,” she says, “so it’s important for companies to look at the power imbalances that are baked into their structure.” She adds that employees on insecure, temporary contracts are particularly vulnerable, as they are less likely to report sexual misconduct at work for fear of losing work. Pound also explains independent, confidential routes to report incidents of sexual violence at work are essential for encouraging victims and survivors to come forward. 

Some countries have begun to enact laws that attempt to tackle these problems: Denmark, for example, introduced legislation last year that required employers to complete a written risk assessment on harassment in the workplace and clarified that a victim’s credible explanation is enough to create a presumption of sexual harassment in the workplace, reducing the need for re-traumatising investigations procedures. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Worker Protection Bill, an amendment to the 2010 Equality Act, which makes it mandatory for employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent employers from experiencing sexual harassment at work, is set to receive royal assent in the coming months and come into force next year. But the government has been criticised for removing a clause that originally added protection from harassment by third parties (ie clients, customers and patients).   

Nonetheless, the new bill is a step in the right direction. According to Deniz Uğur, deputy director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), what’s needed to truly move workplace structures away from protecting perpetrators and towards supporting women is a complete culture shift. “Workplaces reflect the unequal power dynamics which exist in our society,” she says. “If we’re even to begin to change this, we need to start with the attitudes and social norms built into our culture. This looks like public information campaigns on violence against women, how to intervene as a bystander and engaging men and boys in conversations around our collective responsibility to end abuse. It also looks like better quality sex education in schools and a media that exposes sexist myths and stereotypes rather than reinforcing victim-blaming and normalising abuse.”

The solutions may be complex, and contested, but our shared sentiment – after a week of gruelling news stories that have triggered painful memories for many – is simple: this cannot go on. Workplace whisper networks that warn us about “the guy you should stay away from” are a disappointing necessity that we as women have developed to protect each other, but so long as ‘those guys’ are in the office, women will always feel an uneasy sense that a threat is just around the corner. It’s time that changed.

* Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

It’s never too late to address an experience of rape or sexual assault. For information on what to do if you’re seeking help, support or to report an incident, visit Stylist’s comprehensive guide here.

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