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To reassure you, John Stacey-Hibbert, nothing about your trips to London meets the definition of "sexual harassment" in the Equality Act 2010. We've reproduced the relevant part of it in the boxout in the feature accompanying the news story (https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/features/sexual-harassment-you-too/5063842.article).

Personally, I think there's nothing tricky in negotiating this stuff for anyone with a bit of empathy. Leaving aside assault, which is rather obvious, you ask yourself whether the way you behave makes other people uncomfortable or unhappy. If so, and if you didn't mean it too, you change what you're doing.

Charm and consideration won't land you in hot water, professionally or socially, and it's good that people show both towards you.

On the other hand, the very serious incidents related to me by lawyers I trust, as I researched the feature, would be tackled if the system was working properly, which it rather clearly isn't.