UNISON ‘Call It Out’ Campaign

UNISON ‘Call It Out’ Campaign

Our Police Committee has developed a campaign flyer to draw members’ attention to the support and assistance which branches can provide to members who witness or who are experiencing sexual harassment, or other forms of sexual crime, in the workplace. The campaign is entitled: ‘Call It Out’. The intention is to send the campaign flyer to all police staff members electronically in the New Year via the e-mail addresses which they have provided to the UNISON membership system. UNISON has been at the forefront of work to get the police service to acknowledge and confront the reality of sexual misconduct/crime in the police workplace. This goes back to the ground breaking research which we conducted in 2016 in association with the London School of Economics which identified high levels of exposure of police staff to sexual misconduct/crime, including the discovery that: ·    33% had faced intrusive questioning about their private life ·    21% had experience of inappropriate staring/leering ·    19% had received a sexually explicit e-mail or text ·    18% had been touched at work in a way that made them feel uncomfortable ·    12% had witnessed or been the subject of unwelcome touching, kissing or hugging ·    8% had been the subject of a hint that sexual favours could lead to preferential treatment ·    4% had been pressured into having sex with a colleague. NPCC responded very positively at the time to address the UNISON survey results, which resulted in the ‘Knowing the Line’ campaign that was rolled out in 2019 across England and Wales. Since that time, the NPCC has continued to bring stakeholders together in a working party, including UNISON, to continue the vital work to stamp out sexual misconduct/crime in the workplace. The University of Bournemouth carried out a survey of police staff and police officers earlier this year to check on current levels of sexual misconduct/sexual crime in the workplace – the results of which will hopefully be published next year. Earlier this autumn, as branches will be aware, a new duty came into force on all employers under the 2010 Equality Act to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-protections-from-sexual-harassment-come-into-force UNISON wants to keep police forces’ attention focused on the vital need to tackle sexual harassment and other forms of sexual misconduct/criminal activity in the workplace. To this end, we are publishing the campaign flyer for our ‘Call It Out’ campaign which we want to send to all members electronically in the New Year. We particularly want to encourage members to come forward to their branches to get support to report sexual misconduct/crime. Branches may also wish to print off copies of the flyer to display on union noticeboards.     Call It Out Flyer   If you have any questions on this circular please do get in touch. Yours sincerely Ben Priestley National Officer UNISON Police Probation and CAFCASS