Most companies are hiring rapists and abusers, claims minister

[IwantToRetire]

Jess Phillips told hundreds of executives at an event on Wednesday: “Almost every single one of you as an employer is currently employing a perpetrator of domestic abuse and or rape.”

Ms Phillips argued that society needs to better challenge a “culture of entitlement and patriarchal norms” and called for domestic violence to be considered a workplace issue. Safeguarding measures should be put in place in the same way as protective policies are for hazardous manual jobs, she suggested.

She said: “If you’re working with people, you’re working with people who suffer from abuse. We need to take it on as if it’s a harmful material or a grinding machine. It’s as dangerous to the victims that you are working with, if not more dangerous. You could lose your life, not just your limbs.”

Ms Phillips’ claim that employers unwittingly hire abusers comes at a delicate time for relations between business and the Government.

NOT the whole article which doesn't seem to be behind a paywall https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/10/16/jess-phillips-claims-companies-hiring-rapists-and-abusers/ so you can read it in full.

The comments seem to be mostly hostile, anti Labour and anti Phillips. No engagement with the issue itself.

It seems a bit strange, perhaps what she said has been taken out of context but she only addressed domestic abuse.

An awful amount of rape and sexual harassment happens in the workplace so it would be good to also address that.

The .gov.uk web site doesn't seem to have posted her speech, which I thought they did when Ministers make speeeches.

But maybe it is because the event was organised by Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA)

That makes sense!

Some of the initiatives were great eg the safe houses for employees and the stories were awful eg the woman having to hide broken bones and bruises. It's a very important initiative.

So, form the headline, is the issue that workplaces should be taking the initiative to investigate potential perpetrators of rape/abuse themselves and if they suspect it to presumably punish the (suspected) perpetrators themselves? That seems fraught with problems, and also basically saying don't expect the police to do owt about this issue. People committing crimes outside of work isn't a workplace issue, it's a police issue.

Or, is the actual meat and bones of the argument that workplaces should be doing more to help employees who are going through DV/sexual violence. Helping workplaces identify possible warning signs and offer support is a really good idea, and so is telling them that it absolutely is a workplace issue.

It isn't great that the papers/commentators are choosing to focus on the weird thing she said about them employing rapist's (like it's their fault) and not the very good initiatives. But it's het fault for saying such a stupid thing in the first place.

Also they can't hire rapists/violent men if the rapists/violent men are in prison.

But it is true that perpetrators walk among us, so she was right to point it out. Seems entirely appropriate at that event.

“Or, is the actual meat and bones of the argument that workplaces should be doing more to help employees who are going through DV/sexual violence. Helping workplaces identify possible warning signs and offer support is a really good idea, and so is telling them that it absolutely is a workplace issue.“

Yes, the event / her speech was about support for employees who are experiencing domestic abuse.

The headline is the Telegraph’s reinterpretation of what she said, not a direct quote. What she said was “a perpetrator” in the quote from her speech. The headline changed that to “rapists and abusers“ instead of “a perpetrator”.

The attendees at the event included large employers, according to the article, so she’s correct that an employer with thousands of employees will inevitably have a perpetrator amongst that workforce.

I can’t decide whether the comments reflect a wilful lack of comprehension or just show misogynistic, racist and unhelpful beliefs
Full of “what about menz?”
Well, well, well guess what - it could help them too

For once I agree with her. Big firms do all sorts of initiatives on mental health, fitness, LGBTQ they should support their staff going through domestic abuse etc.
They should be aware that potentially they are employing perpetrators and therefore putting their staff at risk.

Definitely a better thing for HR to be spending its time and budget on than fecking pronouns. It's something that potentially impacts everyone and probably costs companies more in productivity than someone getting butthurt because they think they've been misgendered.

She's right. Rape is common, most rapists get away with it, and the working age ones will likely have jobs.

Exactly - presumably she said that or something like that in the context of how wide spread male violence against women is.

And as we know both DV and rape are under reported.

But that doesn't mean women who have suffered either or both dont need support.

I've checked the gov.uk web site again today and the text of her speech has not been posted.

I think that is unusual, because when a Minister makes a speech in the capacity of their area of responsibilit, the speech is published to not allow misrepresentation of what was said.

But then maybe violence against women doesn't rate very highly in what gov.uk thinks.

It took them nearly 2 months to list her correctly as having this position.

Article seems to now be behind a paywall. Can be read at Most companies are hiring rapists and abusers, claims Jess Phillips (archive.ph)

Has anyone sent a copy to NI political parties?

I think they all need a bit of help to not employ abusers

As a HR professional she's absolutely right, it comes up time and again no matter which company I work for. A few years ago I introduced a policy for domestic abuse and it's been used depressingly often. While it's not a workplace issue as such, a woman suffering from DA will have her work suffer because of it and often work is a safe space away from the abuser where she can get some help. I've helped a number of women leave a bad situation. We've also had sexual perpetrators come to light, I've dealt with many rape/sexual harassment cases over the years. They are abusers in every organisation and you're foolish if you don't recognise that.

Years ago I was working for a organisation and a woman was being abused. She was constantly on the phone to her boyfriend as he obviously wanted to keep tabs on her. She got fired. I tried to explain that she was being abused but they didn't care.

It should be made easier to wrap abuse into gross misconduct and discipline men when these matters come to light. BiL was open and unrepentant when his use of prostitutes financial abuse and coercive control was made known to his employer. They couldn’t touch him as it was a domestic situation and even when a (male) colleague complained about his dirty jokes, innuendo and sharing of sexual images nothing was done.

Not just NI - most UK political parties have and are sometimes, but not often enough, exposed but dont always resign.

Yes (looking at you, Metropolitan Police and other police forces across the country)