By Mandy Froelich / Truth Theory
The “me too” movement might have some employers and coworkers shaking in their slacks, but for women, it is an empowering development. No longer is workplace harassment considered to be a “normal” consequence of men and women working side-by-side. Instead, everyday advocates and celebrities are speaking out about the issue and insisting on change. For instance, Emma Watson, who is perhaps best known for her roles in Beauty in the Beast and Harry Potter, recently launched a hotline that offers free legal advice for women experiencing workplace harassment.
From the start of the #MeToo movement, Watson has been an outspoken activist on sexual harassment in the workplace. Her latest project is a first-of-its-kind telephone hotline that provides free legal advice to women who are experiencing harassment at work.
Watson teamed up with Time’s Up UK Justice and Faulty Fund to develop the free resource. According to GoodNewsNetwork, the hotline is open on Mondays and Tuesdays. In the future, the group hopes to expand their operating hours to be available to more women.
Reportedly, as many as 1 in 2 women have experienced sexual harassment at work. Only 1 in 5 typically report harassment, however, likely due to feeling uncomfortable and unsure of the outcome. With the hotline, this may change.
Legal advice offered through the hotline will be provided by the Rights of Women legal staff and volunteer women employment lawyers. Women who call-in will have free access to specialist legal advice on what behavior constitutes sexual harassment, how to bring a grievance against their employer, how to make a claim in the Employment Tribunal, settlement agreements and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and other related legal problems.
The hotline is funded by the Time’s Up UK Justice and Equality Fund, which is managed by the UK Fund for Women and Girls. A Kickstarter also helped to raise money. Watson herself donated $1.2 million to the project.
Following the hotline’s launch, Watson published a statement. She said,
“It’s completely staggering to think that this is the only service of its type given that research has found that as many as one in two women experience sexual harassment in the workplace“It finally feels like people are realizing the scale of the problem, and I’m certainly hopeful that with global standards such as the recent International Labour Organization treaty on harassment at work, we’ll start to see a new climate of prevention and accountability on this issue domestically.
“Understanding what your rights are, how you can assert them, and the choices you have if you’ve experienced harassment, is such a vital part of creating safe workplaces for everyone, and this advice line is such a huge development in ensuring that all women are supported, wherever we work,” she concluded.
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h/t GoodNewsNetwork