Women who report sexual harassment or bullying at work are being silenced with gagging orders

Hundreds of women who report sexual harassment or bullying at work are being silenced with gagging orders, the Mail can reveal.

More than one-in-four people who have been mistreated in the workplace are asked by their employers to sign ‘non-disclosure agreements’ (NDAs) which prevent them from speaking out in public.

Eight in ten of these people are women – fuelling fears that sexism continues to run rife.

MPs on the Treasury Committee, which recently published damning research into Sexism in the City, are now calling for a ban on gagging orders in cases of sexual harassment.

The parliamentary report found companies regularly used legally binding contracts to ‘cover up’ abuse and to make problems ‘go away’.

Harassment: The Treasury Committee recently published damning research into Sexism in the City

Now figures seen by the Mail – compiled by anonymous whistleblowing website Speak Out Revolution – highlight the use of NDAs and how they disproportionately impact women. The group has recorded 888 cases of harassment and bullying at work since 2020. Of these, 711 victims were women, or 80 per cent.

And 27 per cent have said they were forced to sign an NDA.

The respondents came from a range of industries including law and business.

Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury committee, warned that these figures could just be the tip of the iceberg.

‘The Treasury Committee discovered a trend of firms using NDAs to manage victims of sexual harassment out of a business while the perpetrator is protected,’ she told the Mail.

‘Our investigation only looked at the financial sector; these figures showing the problem may be more widespread are extremely worrying,’ she added.

Speak Out Revolution also found women between 18-24 and those over 55 are more likely to have signed an NDA, with 33 per cent of 18-24-year-olds, and 43 per cent of over 55-year-olds being silenced.

In December, minister for women Kemi Badenoch confirmed that the Government was looking into ‘an elegant solution’ for preventing the misuse of NDAs more widely.

Frances Holmes, founder of Speak Out Revolution, said: ‘The government faces a choice – continue silencing harassed women or take action to create safer workplaces.’

The findings also follow a string of recent scandals including accusations of sex harassment and assault levelled by women against fund manager Crispin Odey, as well as claims of sexual misconduct allegations at the CBI.

The Treasury committee noted that whilst there had been some improvement in the City, it warned progress is still too slow.