How timeTo’s Sexual Harassment Training Changed My Perspective
I’ve never been sexually harassed. I’m part of the 91% of males in the UK advertising and marketing industry who haven’t. I think it’s important to note that before I write this because I can only speak about this subject from that perspective. I thought I understood pretty well what sexual harassment is and how people can stop it – don’t do it, and if you witness it, tell someone. But my two hours spent in the timeTo workshop I attended this week will be something I’ll draw on for the rest of my professional life. Along with statistics – like that one above – that it embedded in my head, my thoughts on what sexual harassment looks like and how we can stop it are much more nuanced. Hopefully, I have a deeper understanding that may help protect people I work with now and in the future.
Some other figures that the workshop planted in my head: 26% of people have been sexually harassed while working in the UK advertising and marketing industry, according to a timeTo survey. And while 9% of male respondents said they had been sexually harassed, 34% of female respondents had.
One thing that the workshop made clear was the extent of the problem in this industry. I learned that 72% of those who have been sexually harassed have been harassed more than once, and of them, 25% have been harassed six times or more. There were a lot of wincing faces on people’s Zoom boxes as our trainer laid out the problem we face in facts and figures.
timeTo is the advertising and marketing industry’s campaign to end sexual harassment, launched in 2018. It was created through a unique collaboration between the Advertising Association, NABS and WACL, and is backed by ISBA and the IPA. The purpose of these regular timeTo training sessions for agencies and employees is to offer thought-provoking and insightful information on the sexual harassment that is still taking place in adland, and how we can work together to stop it. So as well as laying out the problem to us, our trainer took us through some activities designed to educate us to take action and raise awareness – and ultimately end sexual harassment.
We spent time discussing what constitutes sexual harassment at work, running through both the legal definition as well as what that behaviour might actually take the form of. Attempting to define sexual harassment clearly and then learning about the letter of the law on it was enlightening. I was heartened to learn that even if it isn’t someone’s purpose to harass someone, it’s the effect of their behaviour that counts. “I didn’t mean it like that” is no excuse.
As much of timeTo’s communications over the years have vividly shown, the advertising industry is full of situations in which the risk of sexual harassment is higher. Which should prompt us all to be extra vigilant. Discussing some of those scenarios helped me to understand that what might have seemed trivial to me could be stressful or scary situations for someone else.
There is a dangerous narrative that we’ve all heard peddled that alleged harassment is just people overreacting to harmless comments or behaviour, but the timeTo workshop drove home that majority of sexual harassment is not unintentional miscommunication. At worst it’s malicious and at best it’s thoughtless. We discussed why ‘grey areas’ are not a particularly helpful concept and noted that while most cases of sexual harassment are a lot less nuanced than some might assume, in a specific situations they don’t feel so nuanced.
Working through a series of scenarios as a group was valuable. Understanding how someone’s actions or other factors might make someone feel uncomfortable is much easier when you imagine real humans interacting. Giving those people names, job titles and protected characteristics to help us unpick the nuance of power dynamics that are crucial to judging what is acceptable and what is abuse.
It was interesting that in a poll on whether a series of behaviours was acceptable, not a single situation returned a unanimous result. I suspect some minds were changed when we took the time to discuss those differences though.
The role of bystanders in sexual harassment is something I hadn’t given enough consideration to before the timeTo training. From here on, I’ll definitely consider myself more of an active participant if I feel that harassment might have happened.
Spending time thinking about the complexities that run through this issue has helped me to understand my role as a colleague. Understanding the barriers that people may have – stopping them from speaking up when an abuse occurs, for example – made me realise that I need to keep in mind ways that I might reinforce those barriers with my words or behaviour.
In general, the timeTo workshop has helped me to think more deeply about sexual harassment and how I play a role in ending it. I’ve realised that I need to educate myself more, so it’s shaken me out of my complacency.
On paper, taking two hours to discuss the issue of sexual harassment with a small group of people from the same industry doesn’t seem that radical. But the thoughts it’s left me with will permanently alter how I see workplace relationships. It’s made me realise that thoughtlessness has a cost.
If every advertising company in the UK put its senior leadership through timeTo’s training it would undoubtedly protect people. I hope the industry doesn’t waste this resource.
