EDM 735: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill

That this House condemns sexual harassment in the workplace; highlights a 2023 TUC poll that shows three in five women, 58%, have experienced sexual harassment, bullying, or verbal abuse in the workplace; argues that legislating in this space is long overdue, and is necessary to ensure staff safety in the workplace; notes that while international law recognises the right to work free from violence and harassment, the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 190 have yet to be fully implemented in the UK; calls on the Government to give its support for the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill, developed alongside the Suzy Lampugh Trust and Rights of Women, which would amend the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to make gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace an enforceable health and safety measure; further argues that the UK Government’s goal to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade cannot be achieved without a cross-departmental and public health approach which goes beyond a focus on criminal justice; and implores the Government to establish a systematic, collective, and publicly enforceable approach to gender-based violence prevention by supporting this Bill.