Three women in their 40s, 50s and 60s interviewed under caution in relation to alleged abuse by late Harrods owner
Three women have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of facilitating one of Britain’s worst sexual abuse scandals, involving the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed and his alleged attacks over four decades.
Scotland Yard said 154 women may have been raped or sexually assaulted by Fayed, or been subject to human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Continue reading...Female members of the military shouldn’t have to fight off their colleagues on a daily basis, lawyer says
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Women who allegedly suffered widespread and systemic sexual abuse, harassment, discrimination and victimisation while serving in the Australian defence force are taking part in a class action against the commonwealth.
There are four applicants in the class action, whose names are withheld for legal reasons, but any woman subjected to sexual violence, sexual harassment or discrimination while working in the ADF between 12 November 2003 and 25 May 2025 is eligible to join them.
Continue reading...Girlguiding survey reveals rising fears of harassment, with many avoiding public transport or changing what they wear
Two-thirds of girls and young women have changed their everyday behaviour to try to stay safe, with 31% avoiding taking public transport alone, according to a survey by the Girlguiding charity.
The research found that 56% of girls and young women in the UK aged between 11 and 21 said they feel unsafe travelling by themselves, up from 45% in 2022, while almost one-third said they avoided public transport altogether.
Continue reading...High court rejects actor’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy
The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by the actor Noel Clarke over an investigation by the newspaper in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women.
In a high court judgment handed down on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn rejected Clarke’s claim. He had said the allegations set out in the Guardian’s investigation were false and that he had been the victim of an unlawful conspiracy.
There were strong grounds to believe that over 15 years, he used his power to prey on and harass female colleagues.
He sometimes bullied female colleagues.
He engaged in unwanted sexual contact, kissing, touching or groping.
He engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour and comments.
He was involved in professional misconduct.
He took and shared explicit pictures and videos without consent, including secretly filming a young actor’s naked audition.
Continue reading...Scrutiny of selling platforms grows as female users warning of harassment on sites after photos stolen and sexualised
Users of secondhand clothing websites such as Vinted are warning about the danger their images will be used against their will on pornography sites, and sounding the alarm about the spread of sexually charged harassment under their posts.
The potential for hijacking photos posted on the internet for real or faked erotic content has long been known, but victims and their advocates say culprits appear to have zeroed in on Vinted with targeted campaigns.
Continue reading...Higgins decries pushback against ‘the very idea that sexual violence deserves to be taken seriously’ in first speech since returning to public life
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Brittany Higgins has warned of an orchestrated “backlash” to the #MeToo movement in her first speech since returning to public life.
During her keynote address to the fourth Conversations That Matter event in Geelong on Thursday, Higgins also urged the Albanese government to use its election mandate to “transform how sexual assault is handled in Australia”.
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Continue reading...Report reveals scale of abuse faced by women in politics from countries such as Australia, India, Laos and Mongolia
Sexism, harassment and violence against women are rife in parliaments across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a damning report published on Tuesday that lays bare the scale of abuse faced by women in politics.
Based on interviews with 150 female MPs and parliamentary staff across 33 countries across the region – including Australia, Mongolia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Fiji and Micronesia – the study found that 76% of MPs and 63% of staff had experienced psychological gender-based violence, with 60% of MPs saying they had been targeted online by hate speech, disinformation and image-based abuse. An equal number of women were interviewed from each country.
Continue reading...Experiences of harassment, groping, inappropriate touching and rape anonymously reported
Children and adults have anonymously reported testimonies of sexual abuse and harassment at 1,664 primary schools in the UK through a website for survivors, which has called for age-appropriate sex education to be taught to children under the age of nine.
Experiences of sexual harassment, groping, inappropriate touching and even forced penetration have been anonymously reported on the site everyonesinvited.uk, with at least one testimonial relating to an incident that took place when the victim was as young as five.
Continue reading...Ministry of Defence says lessons learned from death will make military safer, but victims and families say they have heard it all before
A soldier left suicidal after complaints about a senior officer were ignored. Two women told they needed to grow up or their heads would be banged together after they complained about sexual harassment by their major. A servicewoman raped and left with post-traumatic stress disorder while her attacker was given a slap on the wrist.
Online army forums have been flooded this week with testimonies of abuse – and the military’s failure to tackle it – sparked by the inquest into the death of 19-year-old gunner Jaysley Beck. The head of the army, Gen Sir Roly Walker, has expressed his disgust and suggested senior ranks may even be “actively complicit” in abusive behaviour. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has promised that lessons will be learned.
Continue reading...Rothschild & Co investigated complaint against the late financier in 2003 and he left shortly afterwards
The financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild left the bank that bears his family name in 2004 after an investigation into a sexual misconduct complaint, it has emerged.
Staff at Rothschild & Co were told on Wednesday that the late banker, who was a financial adviser to Queen Elizabeth II, left in March 2004 after the complaint in late 2003.
Continue reading...National Audit Office says government attempts to tackle misogynistic violence are hampered by poor coordination
An “epidemic of violence against women and girls” in the UK is getting worse despite years of government promises and strategies, a highly critical report from Whitehall’s spending watchdog has said.
The National Audit Office report comes four years after a major government response to violence against women and girls (VAWG) was launched after the murders of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard.
The Home Office did not have “centrally coordinated funding” for VAWG, unlike that for the 2021 illegal drugs strategy, and had underspent on its own VAWG budget by an average of 15% between 2021-22 and 2023-24.
There was no consistent definition for VAWG – the Home Office includes all victims, while police forces only include women and girls – which “made it difficult to measure progress in a consistent way”.
While 78% of the commitments in the strategy had been met by July 2024, several were not new, and “most” related to additional funding, holding meetings and publication of new guidance.
Continue reading...Charities say better guidance is needed over increasing number of sexual assaults in UK primary schools
Schools must be given clearer guidance on how to handle peer-on-peer sexual abuse among pupils, charities have demanded.
Rape Crisis and other charities wrote to England’s education secretary Bridget Phillipson and Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, last week, calling on the government to step in with clearer statutory guidance on how schools in England and Wales should address sexual violence when both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are pupils.
Continue reading...Ministers say predators could face two years in jail, and plan to include creating sexually explicit deepfakes in bill
Predators who take intimate images of unwitting victims or install cameras to do so could face up to two years’ in jail under plans drawn up by Labour.
Ministers have also confirmed that they plan to create a new offence for those who create sexually explicit deepfake images.
Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent.
Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent and with intent to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation.
Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent or reasonable belief in it, and for the purpose of the sexual gratification of oneself or another.
Continue reading...MPs vote to give leave to bring in private members’ bill on PR but it will have no practical effect
Lord Robertson, the former Labour defence secretary and former Nato secretary who is leading the government’s strategic defence review, is giving evidence to the Commons defence committee. He has told MPs that the Americans are being fully consulted about the review. This is from Shashank Joshi, the Economist’s defence editor.
Listening to George Robertson & Richard Barrons, who are writing the UK’s defence review alongside Fiona Hill, giving evidence to the Commons defence committee. They’re in “constant contact” with allies, Robertson says, and have a US officer on the review team.
Continue reading...Dozens of accused deny rape, despite video evidence showing unconscious Gisèle Pelicot snoring loudly
Taking the stand in France’s biggest ever rape trial, Patrice N, 55, an electrician from the southern town of Carpentras, said he was a “jovial” guy and a fun dad who once trained youth football teams and had a “great respect for women”.
He denied the charges of rape, claiming rape had never been his intention. “To my mind, it was a game,” he told the court.
Continue reading...Bill will give new rights to millions of workers including protection from third-party harassment
Employers must protect their workers from sexual harassment – including from customers and clients – under the government’s sweeping new employment rights bill.
The new obligation is part of a series of measures published in Thursday’s landmark employment bill, which Labour had promised to lay before parliament within 100 days.
Continue reading...Ben Key confirms several personnel have been sacked, demoted or disciplined as a result of investigations
The head of the Royal Navy has issued an unreserved apology for “intolerable” misogyny in the Submarine Service, after a series of investigations across the navy exposed sexual harassment, bullying and assault of women within its ranks.
First Sea Lord Adm Sir Ben Key said he was “truly sorry” to the women who had suffered “misogyny, bullying and other unacceptable behaviours” while serving their country. “We must be better than this and do better than we have,” he said.
Senior figures forced juniors to tell them ‘shagging dits’, or personal sexual stories.
“Sniffing”, the practice of following the few women around, was “rife”, with women seen as “legitimate targets”.
“At least” one report of rape.
Those in command forced juniors to show them “sports photos”, compromising pictures of their partners, before allowing them to leave the room.
Women’s underwear going missing.
Continue reading...Man in Rotterdam faces €100 penalty after law introduced across Netherlands to tackle harassment in public spaces
A court in the Netherlands has fined a man for harassing and intimidating a woman on a street in Rotterdam, in the first conviction under a new law tackling sexual harassment in public spaces.
The 33-year-old man was fined €100 (£84) by a court in Rotterdam on Wednesday, months after he was accused of grabbing a woman on the street by the hips and holding her. The court set out an additional fine of €180 if he is caught reoffending.
Continue reading...Michael Ward says former Harrods owner ‘presided over a toxic culture’, describing it as ‘shameful period’
The managing director of Harrods has apologised and said the business “failed our colleagues” following sexual misconduct allegations against the department store’s former owner, Mohamed Al Fayed.
In a statement, Michael Ward said it is clear Fayed “presided over a toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: store issues new statement as lawyers describe redress scheme it has set up as attempted ‘whitewash’
Harrods is investigating whether any of its current staff were “directly or indirectly involved” in the alleged sexual abuse of women by its former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
With more than 100 women having come forward to allege being raped or assaulted by the Egyptian tycoon, the luxury store said it had launched a review and was in direct contact with Scotland Yard.
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