Content warning: this article contains descriptions of sexual harassment.

If the latest allegations that British politics is rife with sexism teach us anything, it’s a lesson we’d already learned: women continue to bear the brunt of stopping misogyny in the workplace.

Some 56 MPs across parties have been referred to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme in relation to complaints that range from making sexually inappropriate comments to more serious wrongdoing.

But this isn’t a political problem, it’s a cultural one. “While some may look at their workplace and believe there is no such problem, countless women are still feeling the pressure to alter their behaviour and avoid unwanted attention and comments at work,” explains Rachel Phillips, an employment solicitor at JMW Solicitors.

“Individual women often bear the heavy burden of trying to stop misogyny in the workplace, often at great personal and professional risk to themselves, by adjusting their own behaviours.”

Annabelle* tells Stylist that she was forced to quit after experiencing sexual harassment from her boss while working at a digital marketing agency.

“It started on a work night out,” she says. “The whole team had been to a few bars together, and at the end of the night when I said I was leaving, the managing director said he would walk out with me. We walked towards the taxi rank, but then he asked if I wanted to get another drink before leaving.

“I didn’t think much of it; I thought we were friends, so I was happy to get one more quiet drink and chat. But halfway through that chat he suddenly asked me if I’d always been faithful to my husband. I was stunned and said yes, I had. He told me that although he was married with two children, he really fancied me and couldn’t stop thinking about me. He asked if I wanted to go back to the office to have sex.”

At this point, Annabelle left, but her boss followed her to her taxi. The harassment continued via text message until she got home.

“I cried on my husband’s shoulder when I got in, saying I would probably lose my job now I’d rejected the boss,” she admits. 

“I didn’t lose my job, but he kept sending me flirty and increasingly sexually explicit messages. When I told him to stop, the messages turned more aggressive. He repeatedly told me how he’d like to rape me. ‘I want to throw you against the wall, have sex with you, then beat the shit out of you,’ was one message I received.”

Annabelle attempted to quit, but her boss refused to accept her resignation. He apologised, and she says his behaviour seemed to improve for a while. However, she continued to feel terrified, demeaned and violated.

“I never knew what he would do, whether he would hurt me or assault me, or whether I would lose my job at any moment,” she says.

“There was a culture of that kind of behaviour in the office, but it was driven by him. He would regularly send a lesbian colleague videos of lesbian porn in the office and often loudly ranked the women on the team in the order he’d have sex with them.”

Annabelle made a complaint to the external HR consultant her company used, but the behaviour continued to be dismissed as a “joke”. She says she was also threatened with disciplinary action for raising the complaint.

After leaving her job, she later took her complaint to ACAS, a public body that helps individuals to deal with workplace disputes. The process was lengthy and she says she felt “pressured” to drop the case. Annabelle says she ended up accepting a monetary settlement and signing an NDA, something she now regrets.

Inappropriate comments and discriminatory behaviour that is dismissed as “office banter” are examples of a sexist workplace culture that is all too common. What is clear is that more action needs to be taken to put a stop to misogyny, not only in Westminster but in all workplaces across the UK. 

What you can do if you’re experiencing misogynistic treatment at work

If employees do feel they are suffering sexist treatment, Rachel says that a first step is to raise issues informally with a supervisor or HR colleague. “If a more formal avenue is required, employees should follow their employer’s grievance procedure,” she explains.

“Employees will only have the confidence to speak up and raise issues to HR if they feel safe and supported in the workplace. Importantly, women should not have to adjust their behaviour to address misogynistic and sexist behaviour.”

She adds that there is an impetus on employers to also carefully assess their workplace policies, dress codes, gender pay gaps and promotional patterns as well as their overall culture.

“Employers can help by having clear company policies on required standards of behaviour (including anti-harassment and bullying policies), staff training to handle complaints, allowing flexible working, having family-friendly policies, avoiding role stereotyping, closing the gender pay gap, promoting a respectful and inclusive culture and, importantly, engaging men in the conversation. Practical and meaningful steps need to be taken to identify and eliminate all forms of everyday sexism.”

Images: Molly Saunders