Category Archives: Sexual harassment

Jenni Hermoso ‘did not consent’ to be kissed by Rubiales

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Spain forward rejects FA chief’s claims as ‘categorically false’ as the national women’s team refuses to play until he resigns

• ‘Ego above dignity’: Rubiales’ defiance over kiss shocks Spain

The Spain forward Jenni Hermoso has said she did not consent to be kissed by the Spanish football federation president, Luis Rubiales, as the women’s team announced that they would not play until he is removed.

Rubiales has faced fierce criticism for days, as well as a Fifa investigation, after he grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on her lips during the Women’s World Cup final trophy presentation.

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‘Ego above dignity’: Luis Rubiales’ defiance over kiss shocks Spain

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Women’s and men’s players and clubs join politicians in condemning football chief’s refusal to resign

For a brief moment, it looked like it would be a victory for feminism. After days of uproar across Spain and around the world, media reports had suggested that Spain’s football chief, Luis Rubiales, would step down over the kiss he planted on forward Jenni Hermoso’s lips during the Women’s World Cup medal presentation on Sunday.

Yet instead of announcing his departure at an emergency meeting of the football federation on Friday, he left many Spaniards in shock by defiantly declaring “I will not resign” five times in a meandering speech that hit out at “false feminism” while also seeking to portray himself as a victim and recast the kiss as “a peck”.

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Doctors must show zero tolerance of sexual harassment, says UK medical council

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Updated guidance covers verbal and written comments, displaying or sharing images and physical contact

Doctors will be expected to demonstrate “zero tolerance” of sexual harassment, the General Medical Council has announced.

For the first time, new professional standards, published on Tuesday, introduce explicit rules on sexual harassment towards colleagues.

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Two-thirds of sexual assault support centres in England branded inadequate

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Inspectors find failures to protect victims and risks of contaminating forensic evidence

More than two-thirds of England’s specialist support centres for victims of sexual assault or abuse have been found to have flaws in the care they offer in their most recent full inspections, the Observer can reveal.

Almost half were found to be breaching their minimum legal obligations to victims in their last full inspection, with problems ranging from a failure to deal with suicide and self-harm risks, cleaning so bad it risked contaminating forensic evidence collected for criminal cases, and failures to do adequate background checks on the staff working with victims.

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Italian man cleared of assault because grope only lasted ‘between five and 10 seconds’

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Judge trying case of caretaker accused of sexually assaulting teenage student rules grope too fleeting to be a crime

An Italian judge has provoked outrage after clearing a school caretaker of sexually assaulting a teenage girl because the grope lasted only “a handful of seconds”.

A 17-year-old student at a school in Rome complained of being groped by the caretaker as she walked up a staircase with a friend in April 2022.

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Sexual harassment of girls is a scourge at schools in England, say MPs

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Commons committee’s report calls for government strategy to engage with young boys to tackle problem

Sexual harassment of girls is “a scourge” in England’s schools, according to MPs, who have called for a government-led strategy to focus on boys who are failing to engage with relationship and sex education.

MPs on the women and equalities committee said in a report that there should be training for all teachers to help them hold conversations with boys and young men about sexual harassment and gender-based violence, in a way that challenges prevailing gender norms and ideas of masculinity.

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Cabinet Office will not investigate groping allegations against Daniel Korski

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Daisy Goodwin expresses disappointment with government response to formal complaint against Tory ex-mayoral hopeful

The Cabinet Office will not investigate allegations that the former Conservative mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski groped a woman when he worked in Downing Street 10 years ago.

Daisy Goodwin, the novelist and TV producer who made the claim, said she was disappointed, and questioned why there was no dedicated body that investigated serious allegations against MPs and advisers.

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No 10 groping allegation suggests complaints are still badly handled

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The lack of response to TV producer Daisy Goodwin’s allegation about a mayoral candidate casts doubt on complaints processes

Two years after the Pestminster scandal about sexual harassment by politicians swept through parliament in 2017, a downbeat speech in the House of Commons summed up how many female MPs and aides felt about its consequences.

The verdict was delivered by Jess Phillips, the Labour MP and women’s rights campaigner. “Nothing has changed since we started the whole Pestminster thing or even the broader #MeToo movement; it feels as if a moment of blood-letting led to no significant material change in the actual working lives of the people we are here to try to protect.”

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Labour shadow minister meets CBI boss, suggesting boycott may be ending

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Jonathan Reynolds and new DG Rain Newton-Smith hold ‘warm’ meeting after party cut ties due to sexual misconduct scandal

The Labour party has moved closer to ending its boycott of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), in an early sign that steps to rehabilitate the crisis-hit UK lobby group may be working.

Labour on Sunday confirmed its shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, had met the new CBI director general, Rain Newton-Smith, last week.

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Bar for street sexual harassment offences in England and Wales set too high, charities say

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Open letter says burden on victims to prove intent leaves door open for perpetrators to claim they were joking

Proposals to tackle sexual harassment in the street in England and Wales do not go far enough because the bar for offences has been set too high, charities have warned.

The Fawcett Society, Girl Guiding and Refuge are among organisations who say the requirement to prove perpetrators intended to cause alarm or distress undermines the provisions of two bills intended to protect women and girls going through parliament.

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‘Forget all the excuses’: Arnold Schwarzenegger expresses regret over groping claims

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In the forthcoming documentary Arnold, the actor says of the historical allegations that ‘it doesn’t really matter what time it is … it was wrong’

Arnold Schwarzenegger has revisited historical allegations of groping in a new documentary series about his life and career.

In 2003, shortly before his re-election as governor of California, the Los Angeles Times published a report detailing claims of groping by six women across three decades.

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Woman sexually assaulted by MP condemns Labour’s complaints process

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Exclusive: Ms A’s comments come as another MP, Geraint Davies, faces allegations of sexual harassment

A woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a Labour MP has condemned the party’s complaints procedures as “fake” and “a political stunt” after the launch of a separate inquiry into claims against Geraint Davies.

The former member for Hartlepool, Mike Hill, was found by a tribunal last year to have victimised his former staff member, known as Ms A, after she spurned his advances. She said the party had initially ignored her complaints, then tried to cover them up, and had offered her little support during a four-year fight for justice.

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Female staff express fears over using Labour party’s complaints procedure

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Officials acknowledge ‘genuine concerns’ in wake of MPs’ suspension over allegations of harassment

Female Labour staff are said to be fearful of using the party’s official complaints process, prompting concern among senior officials as a long-serving MP is suspended over allegations of sexual harassment.

Labour figures have acknowledged the “genuine concerns” of female colleagues, and have issued a “cast-iron commitment” to take any action necessary that will restore faith in the party’s processes.

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Outrage in India after teenage girl killed in Delhi street

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Body of teenager lay untouched until police informant passed by, raising fresh concerns about women’s safety

The killing of a 16-year-old girl in Delhi who was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in an alley as pedestrians walked on has sparked outrage over the safety of women in India.

CCTV footage of the incident shows the teenager was accosted in public by a man, alleged by police to be 20-year-old Sahil Khan, who stabbed her more than 30 times and hit her with a concrete slab.

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Police assessment places violence against women and girls on same footing as terrorism

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First official document on VAWG in England and Wales is similar to those used for threats such as serious organised crime, say chiefs

Police chiefs have issued the first official assessment of violence against women and girls in the UK, placing such offences on the same footing as terrorism and serious organised crime.

The 230-page intelligence document outlining the crimes that pose the greatest threats to women and girls has been shared with all forces by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

Domestic abuse.

Rape and serious sexual offences.

Child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Tech-enabled VAWG, such as online stalking and harassment.

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Almost two-thirds of young women have been sexually harassed at work, says TUC

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Most victims do not report it for fear of not being believed or damaging career prospects, says union body

Almost two in three young women have experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work, according to a TUC poll.

However, most victims do not report it for fear of not being believed or of damaging their relationships at work or their career prospects, the TUC said.

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India’s female wrestlers threaten to hand back Olympic medals in harassment row

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President of Wrestling Federation of India accused of sexually harassing seven young female wrestlers

They were the first women to bring Olympic glory in the wrestling ring to India. But last week several of India’s top female wrestlers threatened to hand back their medals, accusing the authorities of ignoring their allegations of sexual harassment against the sport’s top official.

For the past 15 days, top wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have staged a protest in the centre of Delhi, sacrificing their rigorous training schedules, sleeping in the rain and facing beatings by police.

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Don’t talk to pupils about misogynist Andrew Tate, government urges teachers in England

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Advice comes despite charity’s warning that social media figure is fuelling shocking growth of misogyny in schools

Teachers are being advised by the government not to discuss social media influencer Andrew Tate, the “king of toxic masculinity”, with pupils – despite schools reporting a rising tide of misogyny and sexual harassment from boys as young as nine.

One small charity, Diversify, based in Rotherham, which runs school workshops about inclusion, receives about 25 calls a week from primary and secondary schools across England who want help dealing with sexual harassment and “shocking misogynistic incidents”. Many cite the influence of Tate, who is under house arrest in Romania for suspected human trafficking and organised crime. Tate’s TikTok videos tell boys that a woman belongs to her boyfriend; girls who don’t stay at home are “hoes”; and rape victims must “bear responsibility” for their attacks.

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CBI president apologises over sexual misconduct allegations

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Brian McBride says business lobby group was on firm ground in sacking director general Tony Danker

The president of Britain’s most influential business lobby organisation has apologised for a spate of sexual misconduct allegations and “toxic culture” that has left the Confederation of British Industry fighting for its future.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Brian McBride apologised to those alleging various forms of sexual misconduct, which span several years, by senior figures at the organisation, including an allegation of rape, first reported in a Guardian investigation last month.

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How the tide turned against the CBI’s director general

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Sacked chief says he is ‘shocked’ and allegations have been ‘distorted’

The director general of Britain’s most prominent lobby group is not leaving quietly. On Tuesday morning, hours after learning of his dismissal from the Confederation of British Industry, Tony Danker posted a series of tweets in which he revealed he was “shocked” at the decision, which followed allegations of misconduct.

Some present and former staff did not share in his sense of surprise, they told the Guardian, four weeks after this newspaper first revealed the allegations against him.

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