The Sex Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for employers in Great Britain to subject someone to sexual harassment this includes both men and women. It is also unlawful to harass a transsexual person because they intend to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone gender reassignment. Sexual harassment itself is prohibited by the Sex Discrimination Act but, in many instances, it will be accompanied by other forms of unfavourable treatment such as not being recruited, criticism of work, lack of promotion, enforced transfer and ill health or dismissal.
Sexual harassment could include:
- Unwelcome comments of a sexual nature
- Unnecessary touching or unwanted physical contact
- Leering at someone’s body
- Displaying offensive material such as posters
- Sending offensive e-mails. This includes colleagues downloading pornographic e-mails, even if they aren’t sent to you personally
The law protects those against sexual harassment from an employer, colleagues and third parties, for example, customers. Sexual harassment could be a one-off incident or a series of incidents. It could be sexual harassment if you are working in an environment, which the behaviour of others makes intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive.