A young activist who alleges she was raped at a Labour event has accused the party of “kicking into the long grass” a report which found sexual harassment “rife” in its ranks.
Bex Bailey waived her anonymity last year to reveal she was seriously sexually assaulted in 2011 by a party figure senior to her – and that she was discouraged from reporting it to the police.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4′s PM almost a year on from the revelation, she says Labour is failing to prioritise a damning report which found sexual harassment was being “trivialised” and “accommodated” by senior figures.
Labour commissioned a review by top QC Karen Monaghan to look into how it deals with sex harassment complaints, but the party has not made the review findings public despite having had them for four months.
Bailey said she had to fight to be allowed to see the findings herself and told HuffPost UK she had to read the report in a room and was not allowed to take a copy away with her.
She told the BBC she is angry at Labour for “dragging its feet on this” and not giving the party’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, early sight of the report.
“Karon Monaghan’s report found that not only is sexual harassment rife in the Labour party, which is the reason why I did the interview originally, but actually that it’s not being dealt with,” she said.
“We’ve got a situation where the report clearly says that senior members of Labour even have closed their eyes to these issues, they have trivialised sexual harassment, accommodated it and not handled it as they should have done.”
The NEC is due to meet on Tuesday to decide on any policy rule changes to be discussed at this year’s conference.
If they do not pass a rule change tomorrow, it could be a year before the issues can be examined again.
Bailey said the NEC cannot make an informed judgement without having seen the report and having time to consider its recommendations and fears the opportunity to bring in reforms is diminishing.
The 25-year-old, who works for the Young Women’s Trust, also said it has been “really tough” since going public with her allegations.
“Making the decision to speak out originally wasn’t easy, but I spoke out because I want the party I love to be better and I knew there were real problems with sexual harassment that weren’t being resolved, that were being ignored,” she said on Monday.
“And over the past year and the past five years since I’ve been raising this issue, it’s just felt really frustrating to feel continually let down by the party I love on issue I really care about and that needs to change, so that the Labour Party can be a safe place for women.”
According to a Labour source, the party is proposing a rule change on the issue, which is set to be considered by the NEC on Tuesday.
“Many of the recommendations made in Karon Monaghan QC’s report have already been implemented,” they added.
But Bailey said she and victims of sexual harassment who also gave evidence to the party review are being sidelined.
“I did my interview because I wanted action, I asked for action not a review, I was given a review I cooperated with that, I spent six months giving evidence as did many other victims in the Labour party,” she added.
Bailey said Monaghan’s report found that “not only is sexual harassment rife” in the party “but actually that it’s not being dealt with”.
“It’s not just my case that’s not been handled properly but we’ve got a situation where the report clearly says that these issues, senior members of the labour even have closed their eyes to these issues they have trivialised sexual harassment, accommodated it and not handled it as they should have done and I think now is the time finally to start taking this seriously, put it back on the agenda,” she said.
It comes as the party prepares for its annual conference in Liverpool next week.
“Women in the party have been waiting a really long time for this and we should be able to feel safe, to feel like our issues are listened to and to be able to report it when things go wrong,” Bailey added.
A spokeswoman for the campaign Labour Too, which launched after the Me Too movement rose to prominence, said: “It is disappointing that Karon Monaghan’s report has been widely shared, nor considered by the Labour Party.
“When we know that sexual harassment if rife in the Labour Party, we had hoped that the recommendations in this report would be taken seriously and addressed.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party is committed to continually improving our procedures for dealing with sexual harassment complaints and we thank Bex Bailey for her work to improve these procedures and for her incredible bravery.
“Karon Monaghan QC’s report assessed the Party’s previous procedures, which we recognise were not fit for purpose. These procedures have since been improved, for example by introducing a helpline for members to report complaints, anonymising all cases, and appointing an independent specialist organisation to offer confidential advice and support to any individual affected by sexual harassment within the party.
“The party is currently considering further changes to our procedures in light of Karon Monaghan QC’s report, to ensure sexual harassment complaints are always dealt with promptly, fairly and with utmost confidentiality.”