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| I was lucky. Others complaining about sexual abuse by politicians won’t be | I was lucky. Others complaining about sexual abuse by politicians won’t be |
| (25 days later) | |
| I have been trying not to think about sexual harassment in Westminster. In October, I publicly described an uncomfortable experience with Damian Green, then the de facto deputy prime minister. Although others have since minimised my story as a tale of a “touch on a knee”, I perceived that he was suggesting sex while offering me a job. I expected an apology – the headline of my piece acknowledged that men such as Green rarely realise they’re doing anything wrong. His actions – threatening to sue for libel, briefing the Daily Mail to destroy my reputation, which he has denied – turned it into all-out war. In December, he resigned. It wasn’t a victory. No woman wants to be defined as the complainant in a sexual harassment case. My voice, cultivated over years as a journalist, has been lost in noise. | I have been trying not to think about sexual harassment in Westminster. In October, I publicly described an uncomfortable experience with Damian Green, then the de facto deputy prime minister. Although others have since minimised my story as a tale of a “touch on a knee”, I perceived that he was suggesting sex while offering me a job. I expected an apology – the headline of my piece acknowledged that men such as Green rarely realise they’re doing anything wrong. His actions – threatening to sue for libel, briefing the Daily Mail to destroy my reputation, which he has denied – turned it into all-out war. In December, he resigned. It wasn’t a victory. No woman wants to be defined as the complainant in a sexual harassment case. My voice, cultivated over years as a journalist, has been lost in noise. |
| Yet today I’ve returned to this depressing issue. I agreed to be interviewed by the Guardian to support Ava Etemadzadeh, whose case against Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins has been languishing in the long grass since October. She first made a complaint two years ago. We met this week with Bridget Harris, one of 10 women who brought complaints against Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard. With the Women’s Equality party, which has supported us where others have failed, we are calling for independent bodies to adjudicate harassment across political parties. | Yet today I’ve returned to this depressing issue. I agreed to be interviewed by the Guardian to support Ava Etemadzadeh, whose case against Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins has been languishing in the long grass since October. She first made a complaint two years ago. We met this week with Bridget Harris, one of 10 women who brought complaints against Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard. With the Women’s Equality party, which has supported us where others have failed, we are calling for independent bodies to adjudicate harassment across political parties. |
| Compared with most women who have made complaints against politicians, I am lucky. I’ve received an apology from the minister in question, an apology endorsed by the prime minister. Green has been proved a liar; I have been affirmed as “plausible”. It’s common for investigators to be unable to prove exactly what happened in a closed room but to make clear whom they believe. Even in the Lord Rennard case, the evidence of his accusers was deemed “credible”, but the Webster report declined to confirm proof “beyond reasonable doubt”. | Compared with most women who have made complaints against politicians, I am lucky. I’ve received an apology from the minister in question, an apology endorsed by the prime minister. Green has been proved a liar; I have been affirmed as “plausible”. It’s common for investigators to be unable to prove exactly what happened in a closed room but to make clear whom they believe. Even in the Lord Rennard case, the evidence of his accusers was deemed “credible”, but the Webster report declined to confirm proof “beyond reasonable doubt”. |
| Other women have not been so affirmed. When I look at the slew of Conservative men cleared before Christmas, announcements buried after the press had left for holidays, it seems even more amazing that Green was sacked, albeit for lying about pornography on his computer. Mark Garnier wasn’t sacked for asking his secretary to buy a sex toy – even though he was sacked for political reasons last week. Which suggests the leadership wanted to prove that the Soho-Westminster shopping run fits the job description of the Tory researcher. | Other women have not been so affirmed. When I look at the slew of Conservative men cleared before Christmas, announcements buried after the press had left for holidays, it seems even more amazing that Green was sacked, albeit for lying about pornography on his computer. Mark Garnier wasn’t sacked for asking his secretary to buy a sex toy – even though he was sacked for political reasons last week. Which suggests the leadership wanted to prove that the Soho-Westminster shopping run fits the job description of the Tory researcher. |
| There’s no question in my mind that I was lucky to have my claim handled by our impartial civil service. I was treated well by Sue Gray and her team at the Cabinet Office. They are serious about holding ministers to account. But their job is to police the government, and they have limited powers beyond upholding the ministerial code. As a complainant against an opposition politician, Etemadzadeh can’t call on such impartiality. Neither would I have been able to, had my complaint been against a Tory backbencher. | There’s no question in my mind that I was lucky to have my claim handled by our impartial civil service. I was treated well by Sue Gray and her team at the Cabinet Office. They are serious about holding ministers to account. But their job is to police the government, and they have limited powers beyond upholding the ministerial code. As a complainant against an opposition politician, Etemadzadeh can’t call on such impartiality. Neither would I have been able to, had my complaint been against a Tory backbencher. |
| If an activist tells me she’s been asked for a hand job if she wants to be a councillor, where does she go for redress? | If an activist tells me she’s been asked for a hand job if she wants to be a councillor, where does she go for redress? |
| Nor is it enough for parliament to impose HR systems to protect staff. My case wouldn’t have been covered, as I was not a parliamentary pass holder. Each party needs an independent body to which any party member can complain. In an ideal world, political parties would agree to a joint body, to prevent the leadership of each party stuffing “independent” adjudication boards with their cronies. At present, when a Tory activist tells me she’s been asked for a hand job if she wants to be a councillor, where do I send her to seek redress? | Nor is it enough for parliament to impose HR systems to protect staff. My case wouldn’t have been covered, as I was not a parliamentary pass holder. Each party needs an independent body to which any party member can complain. In an ideal world, political parties would agree to a joint body, to prevent the leadership of each party stuffing “independent” adjudication boards with their cronies. At present, when a Tory activist tells me she’s been asked for a hand job if she wants to be a councillor, where do I send her to seek redress? |
| Change is coming. Because of complaints such as mine, new clauses were this week added to the ministerial code – an admission that some of the inappropriate behaviour investigated was not firmly enough outlawed by the existing code. (Ministers, if you think it’s acceptable to have an affair with the younger researcher who relies on you for a reference – it’s not.) But the culture needs to change too. | Change is coming. Because of complaints such as mine, new clauses were this week added to the ministerial code – an admission that some of the inappropriate behaviour investigated was not firmly enough outlawed by the existing code. (Ministers, if you think it’s acceptable to have an affair with the younger researcher who relies on you for a reference – it’s not.) But the culture needs to change too. |
| The campaign against me was relentless, and it doesn’t take much imagination to grasp that other accusers weren’t encouraged to come forward after seeing how I was treated. The ministerial code needs one clause added. It must be made a sacking offence if a minister is ever proved to have encouraged the smearing of an accuser. | The campaign against me was relentless, and it doesn’t take much imagination to grasp that other accusers weren’t encouraged to come forward after seeing how I was treated. The ministerial code needs one clause added. It must be made a sacking offence if a minister is ever proved to have encouraged the smearing of an accuser. |
| • Kate Maltby is a journalist | • Kate Maltby is a journalist |