The sentencing of Russell Brand this week, alongside alleged sexual misconduct allegations against the TV star and author David Walliams and the recent cancellation of Channel 4’s Married at First Sight, has once again brought sexual misconduct, power and accountability into sharp focus. Alongside the recent criminal proceedings against Brand in particular, public attention has turned to the organisations and workplace environments surrounding him, with questions about what was known, who knew it and whether more could have been done sooner.
This, of course, comes two years after historical allegations of sexual abuse and assault against Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, became a major international news story following the broadcast of a BBC investigative documentary in September 2024.
While the details of individual cases will always differ, this wider conversation should concern every employer, because sexual harassment remains a workplace issue, not just in the media and entertainment industry, but across every sector.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reflect the scale of the issue. In the year ending March 2025, 22.5% of people aged 16 and over who had experienced sexual harassment in person in the previous 12 months said it had happened in their place of work.
Perhaps the most uncomfortable question organisations should be asking is not whether they have a policy, a reporting procedure or annual training in place. It's whether their workplace culture would truly prevent sexual harassment from occurring in the first place.
For many organisations, there is a temptation to view sexual harassment as something that happens elsewhere. We point to high-profile cases in the media, entertainment industry or politics and reassure ourselves that our own culture is different. Yet instances of workplace sexual harassment continue to emerge across every sector, from healthcare and education through to financial services, retail, technology and professional services, and the prevailing issue in each of these cases is rarely one of awareness. Most organisations and their employees know that sexual harassment is wrong. The challenge is whether the systems, behaviours and leadership practices within an organisation genuinely prevent inappropriate behaviours from emerging, escalating or being ignored.
Over the last decade, organisations have invested considerable time and effort into tackling workplace sexual harassment.
The #MeToo movement transformed public awareness, and reforms to UK employment legislation, including amendments to the Equality Act 2010 and Employment Rights Act 1996 have strengthened duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment; increasing expectations that organisations must take proactive action. In response, many organisations have introduced new or updated policies, implemented improved reporting mechanisms, designed awareness campaigns and invested in mandated learning programmes. In the UK, employers are now expected not simply to respond to incidents but to take proactive and preventative steps to prevent them from occurring.
This is undoubtedly progress, but awareness alone does not create safe workplaces. If it did, stories of workplace sexual harassment would have disappeared long ago. However, while legislation has undoubtedly driven progress, legal compliance has its limitations. Employment law can establish minimum standards and clarify employer responsibilities, but it cannot create trust, psychological safety or accountability on its own. These are cultural outcomes that require continuous attention.
Some organisations still approach sexual harassment prevention as a periodic exercise, updating policies when regulations change or delivering training when legally required. The reality is that workplace culture is shaped every day through recruitment decisions, leadership behaviour, performance conversations and how concerns are handled when they arise. The organisations making the greatest progress today are those treating sexual harassment prevention as part of a wider inclusion and culture strategy, not a standalone compliance exercise.
One of the most persistent myths about sexual harassment is that it is always obvious. Often, it isn't.
At FAIRER, we frequently see people associate sexual harassment only with the most serious or extreme behaviours. Yet sexual harassment can take many forms, including inappropriate comments, sexual jokes, suggestive messages, unwanted physical contact, intrusive questions about a person's private life, propositions, gestures or repeated behaviour that creates an intimidating or hostile environment. Many of these behaviours become normalised over time.
One of the reasons that sexual harassment can remain hidden is that people often focus on intent rather than impact. We frequently hear phrases such as "they didn't mean it that way" or "it was just a joke". However, workplace culture is experienced through impact. A behaviour does not have to be deliberately malicious to make someone feel uncomfortable, intimidated or excluded.
In many cases, inappropriate behaviours emerge gradually rather than through a single serious incident. Small boundary violations go unchallenged and colleagues become accustomed to hearing inappropriate comments and in a lot of instances, people adapt their behaviour to avoid certain individuals rather than challenge them. Over time, what once felt uncomfortable becomes accepted as normal.
This is one reason bystander awareness is so important. Sexual harassment is rarely only witnessed by the person experiencing it and we’ve repeatedly seen where colleagues, managers and team members have observed warning signs long before a formal complaint is ever made. In fact, a UK Government survey found that in 37% of workplace incidents witnessed by others, witnesses took no action.
If People Don’t Report, It Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t Happening
These barriers to reporting create a dangerous illusion. Leaders may believe there is no problem because there are no complaints and employees may believe there is no point reporting because previous concerns have not led to meaningful change.
The result is organisational silence, which should never be mistaken for safety. Organisations often monitor formal grievances, complaints and disciplinary cases as indicators of workplace culture. While these metrics are important, they only tell part of the story. In reality, many employees will ask themselves whether they will be believed, whether anything will change and whether speaking up could negatively affect their career, relationships or reputation before even considering reporting sexual harassment.
Where employees do feel comfortable and safe to report sexual harassment, we will likely see reporting levels increase in what might be seen as otherwise healthy workplace cultures. This is not because more incidents are occurring, but because employees have greater confidence in the reporting process. Organisations should therefore avoid treating low complaint numbers as proof that no problem exists.
Instead, leaders should consider a broader range of indicators, including employee engagement surveys, exit interviews, listening circles, employee resource groups and anonymous culture assessments. These often reveal concerns long before they appear as formal complaints.
Many high-profile cases share a common theme: power. Whether that be the power of celebrity or status, an individual’s seniority, position or reputation, the networks surrounding them or their perceived commercial value.
When individuals become exceptionally valuable to an organisation, there can be conscious or unconscious pressure to overlook behaviours that would never usually be tolerated from others. As a result, people may minimise concerns. Managers might hesitate, and witnesses may stay silent. Complaints may never progress beyond informal conversations.
This isn't unique to the media sector. It occurs in professional services, higher education, healthcare, retail, sport, technology, the arts and countless other industries. Whenever people believe the rules apply differently to certain individuals, workplace risk increases.
However, power does not always sit with the most senior individual in an organisation. Sometimes it sits with the highest performer, the largest biller, the person with influential relationships, the individual viewed as indispensable or simply, the most well liked or respected across the wider workforce.
This can create an environment where different standards are applied to different people. Behaviours that would lead to disciplinary action for one employee may be excused when carried out by someone perceived as valuable to the business.
Leaders should be particularly aware of this risk because organisational culture is heavily influenced by consistency. Employees are constantly assessing whether policies apply equally to everyone. If they believe certain individuals are protected because of their status, confidence in reporting systems quickly disappears.
Ultimately, some of the most important decisions leaders make are not about strategy or performance. They are the moments when they demonstrate that organisational values matter more than an individual's influence or commercial contribution.
The answer is both a lot, and not enough. There is no doubt that the #MeToo movement changed the conversation. Behaviours that may once have been dismissed or minimised are now much more likely to be recognised and challenged. Many individuals also have a stronger understanding of professional boundaries and inappropriate workplace conduct.
Nearly a decade after the #MeToo movement became a global phenomenon (October 2017), employees are much more aware of what sexual harassment looks like and employers face scrutiny and stronger legal duties than ever before. Reporting mechanisms have also improved, and organisations are expected to take proactive steps to prevent harm rather than simply react once something has already happened. Additionally, Acas recently reported that one in four workers believe media coverage of sexual harassment has improved workplace culture.
However, awareness alone does not automatically translate into behaviour change. In many organisations, employees know what inappropriate behaviour looks like but still feel uncertain about challenging it when it involves a colleague, manager or influential stakeholder.
In this sense, the next stage of progress may not be about awareness, but accountability. Organisations have spent the last decade helping people understand what sexual harassment is. The next challenge is ensuring leaders have the confidence and capability to address inappropriate behaviours consistently whenever they occur.
Yet many organisations still treat sexual harassment as primarily a compliance issue. Either a policy that needs to be updated, or a training course that needs to be completed.
The most effective organisations take a different approach. They recognise that sexual harassment is ultimately a culture issue, because people rarely experience workplace culture through policies. They experience it through everyday behaviours, leadership decisions, accountability and trust.
Rather than asking whether you have complied with your legal duties, consider asking:
Would employees genuinely feel safe reporting concerns?
Are behavioural expectations applied equally regardless of seniority or performance?
Do managers have the confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour when they see it?
Do employees understand the less obvious forms of sexual harassment?
Have we created a culture where respect and dignity are actively reinforced, not simply expected?
If you answered "no", "I'm not sure" or "it depends" to any of these questions, consider the actions below:
Conduct a confidential employee listening exercise.
Review whether reporting routes are genuinely independent and accessible.
Train supervisors and managers specifically on responding to concerns about sexual harassment.
Review disciplinary outcomes to ensure consistency across seniority levels.
Assess whether employees understand the role of active bystanders and allyship.
These activities often provide a more realistic picture of organisational culture than policy reviews alone.
Sexual harassment prevention is often viewed through a legal or HR lens, but it is also fundamentally an inclusive leadership issue. Inclusive leaders create environments where people feel respected, valued and safe to speak up. They recognise the impact of power dynamics, actively seek out different perspectives and respond consistently when concerns are raised.
In our Inclusive Leadership programmes, we encourage leaders to think beyond compliance and focus on everyday behaviours that shape workplace culture. These include listening actively, challenging inappropriate conduct, creating psychological safety and ensuring everyone understands what respectful behaviour looks like in practice.
Put simply, inclusive workplaces are not immune from sexual harassment. However, they are often better equipped to identify concerns earlier, respond more effectively and create conditions where inappropriate behaviour is less likely to thrive.
The reality is that very few organisations set out to create cultures where sexual harassment is tolerated. The challenge is that culture is not created by intention alone. It is created by thousands of daily decisions, conversations and responses.
At FAIRER Consulting, we have long argued that preventing sexual harassment requires more than policies and procedures alone. It requires organisations to be proactive, not reactive and for leaders to model the behaviours they expect of others. It also requires regular conversations, meaningful training and a willingness to address concerns early rather than waiting for them to escalate. Most importantly, it requires organisations to recognise that sexual harassment is not simply a legal risk: it is a culture risk. And cultures are shaped every day by what leaders challenge, what they ignore and what they choose to tolerate.
Our Sexual Harassment Awareness Training helps organisations move beyond compliance to create cultures where dignity, respect and accountability are embedded into everyday behaviours. Through practical learning, open discussion and real-world scenarios, we support leaders and employees to recognise inappropriate behaviours early, challenge them confidently and contribute to safer, more inclusive workplaces for everyone.