Harrods> Photo: Sokkky/CC
Harrods> Photo: Sokkky/CC

Jane Nellist, President of Coventry TUC (personal capacity) and Socialist Party

It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since the #MeToo movement stormed across the world. It exposed the extent of sexual violence and harassment of women in society following the Harvey Weinstein case. But what has really changed?

The shocking recent exposure of the now deceased Mohamed Al-Fayed as a historic sexual predator has again raised questions about how the rich and powerful get away with it.

Listening to the five episodes of the BBC Podcast, ‘World of Secrets – Predator at Harrods’ and the experiences of these women, you realise the absolute power that organisations can hold to silence the victims, and how the organisation itself tries to cover this up.

Powerful corporations, such as the Harrod’s management at the time, conspired to cover-up the crimes perpetrated by Al Fayed with Non-Disclosure Agreements and payoffs to prevent them reaching the public eye. By all accounts, they were complicit in the grooming and control of the women Al-Fayed sexually abused, raped or threatened.

Let’s be clear though, this sort of behaviour is not confined to just ‘high-end’ businesses. According to a 2023 Trades Union Congress poll, more than half of women in the UK have experienced sexual harassment at work. For women aged 18–24, this number rises to almost two in three. 45% of women who have experienced sexual harassment at work say it has had a negative impact on their mental health.

Many of us will have been in situations where a manager behaves inappropriately. I know I have. It can take courage to expose it, especially when your job could be threatened or it would be your word against theirs. That’s why trade unions are so important. To not only give a voice, but the power to fight back!

What’s more, long-standing ideas of gender dominance and subordination, along with ideas of power and control, continue to influence our society. To eliminate sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces and beyond, we must address these beliefs at their core.

A small minority still possess the vast majority of wealth in society. They continue to wield control over the media, fashion, and beauty industries, commodifying women’s bodies for profit. This minority benefits materially from the exploitation of workers, especially women workers, through low-paid, insecure jobs, as well as the unpaid labour that mostly women perform at home.

Over recent decades, important gains for women’s rights have been made as a result of struggle, but the oppression of women still remains deep-rooted in the structure of class society. The only way to eradicate it and create a more equal safer society, not just for women but the whole of the working class, is to step up the fight for a socialist society.