What sexual harassment is – Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. The law (Equality Act 2010) protects the following people against sexual harassment at work:

• employees and workers
• contractors and self-employed people hired to personally do the work
• job applicants

To be sexual harassment, the unwanted behaviour must have either:

• violated someone's dignity
• created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for someone

It can be sexual harassment if the behaviour:

• has one of these effects even if it was not intended
• intended to have one of these effects even if it did not have that effect

Who is responsible

Employers must take steps to prevent sexual harassment happening in the first place.

Anyone who sexually harasses someone at work is responsible for their own actions.

Employers can be responsible too – this is called vicarious liability. By law, they must do everything they reasonably can to protect staff from sexual harassment.

Employers also have a responsibility – a 'duty of care' – to look after the wellbeing of their employees. If an employer does not do this, in some cases it could lead to a serious breach of an employee's employment contract. If an employee feels they have no choice but to resign because of it, the employer could face a claim of sexual harassment and constructive dismissal.

All complaints of sexual harassment should be taken seriously. Employers should handle any investigation in a way that's fair and sensitive to:

• the person who made the complaint
• someone who witnessed it
• someone who's been accused of sexual harassment

Who can experience sexual harassment

Sexual harassment can happen to men, women and people of any gender identity or sexual orientation. It can be carried out by anyone of the same sex, a different sex or anyone of any gender identity.

You could experience sexual harassment from anyone you come into contact with because of your job, including:

• someone you work with
• a manager, supervisor or someone else in a position of authority
• someone high profile or influential

You can also experience sexual harassment from a customer, client or member of the public. An employer should take steps to prevent this.

Examples of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment can be a one-off incident or an ongoing pattern of behaviour.

It can happen in person or in other ways, for example online through things like email, social media or messaging tools.

Examples include:

• making sexual remarks about someone's body, clothing or appearance
• asking questions about someone's sex life
• telling sexually offensive jokes
• making sexual comments or jokes about someone's sexual orientation or gender reassignment
• displaying or sharing pornographic or sexual images, or other sexual content
• touching someone against their will, for example hugging them
• sexual assault or rape

What some people might consider as joking, 'banter' or part of their workplace culture can still be sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is usually directed at an individual, but it's not always the case. Sometimes there can be a culture of behaviour that's not specifically aimed at one person – such as sharing sexual images. Someone could still make a complaint of sexual harassment in this situation.

The law on harassment

The Equality Act 2010 protects people against sexual harassment and harassment related to 'protected characteristics', for example a person's sex.

Find out more about protected characteristics and harassment

The law on sexual harassment is changing on 26 October 2024. By law, all employers will need to take steps to prevent sexual harassment. The new law is the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. 

Sexual harassment is different to harassment related to a person's protected characteristic, for example sex, sexual orientation or gender reassignment. Someone could experience both types of harassment at the same time, or separately.