If you're experiencing sexual harassment at work, you can access free employment legal advice.

Some important things to know about sexual harassment and the law:

• It is the person receiving the sexual behaviour who decides if it’s unwanted – NOT the person doing the behaviour.
• It doesn’t matter if other people think the unwanted sexual behaviour is okay. Or if it’s common in the place it’s happened in.
• It can be a one-off incident or repeated.
• Just because certain sexual behaviour was welcomed or not objected to in the past doesn’t mean that it can’t become unwanted. Or that other sexual behaviour is wanted.
• Unwanted sexual behaviour doesn’t need to be intentionally directed at the victim or survivor – it can be something they witness or overhear.
• If a victim or survivor of sexual harassment is treated badly or less favourably because of their reaction to that harassment, the Equality Act 2010 says that this is also harassment.

When sexual harassment is a crime

Some forms of sexual harassment automatically break criminal law in England and Wales, and are therefore crimes.

These include:

• stalking
• indecent exposure
• ‘upskirting’
• any sexual harassment involving physical contact (this amounts to sexual assault in English and Welsh law)

Other forms of sexual harassment might also break criminal law, depending on the situation.

For example, if someone carries out sexual harassment behaviours on more than one occasion that are intended to cause another person alarm or distress, they may be committing the crime of harassment.

In cases of sexual harassment where a crime was committed, the following can happen:

• Police can arrest the person who committed the crime.
• This person can be charged with a crime and face trial.
• If they are found guilty or plead guilty then they will receive a punishment. This might include a prison sentence.

Source rapecrisis.org.uk