62 women’s rights organisations, activists and Parliamentary staff have signed our letter to the Leader of the House to urge him against allowing MPs to debate cases of bullying and harassment.
Bullying and harassment is an issue which occurs on all sides of the political spectrum and particularly affects young women and men. In 2018, a House of Commons report revealed that 19 per cent of Westminster staff had experienced sexual harassment in a single year.
We welcome the implementation of the Independent Expert Panel for the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) to deal with bullying, harassment and sexual harassment complaints in Parliament.
However, we are extremely concerned that MPs will have the ability to debate ICGS determinations as part of the new complaints process. Intimidation regularly stops women from reporting sexual harassment and the fact that cases could be discussed by MPs would exacerbate this, meaning more women will suffer in silence.
The process to deal with bullying and sexual harassment complaints must be entirely independent of MPs, as per Dame Laura Cox’s recommendation, and we support Chris Bryant MP’s amendment to ensure individual cases are taken forward without delay and debate by MPs.
Both women and men who work in politics must be able to exercise their right to take part in the decisions that affect their lives without fear of bullying, abuse and sexual harassment.