Report comment

I agree that the #MeToo "movement" has dangerous elements that could lead to a knee jerk "band wagon" response and the potential trivialisation of what constitutes real abuse. As usual the devil is in the detail and trying to define what does and does not constitute abuse is difficult. Office "banter" should not be outlawed but what constitutes banter to one person might be seen as intimidating to those of a more "delicate" disposition.
As a solicitor with more than 30 years experience I can confirm that I do not have a "delicate" disposition, nor am I readily or easily offended but as a partner in a major City law firm, I experienced bullying (regularly during partners meetings where I was often the only female partner present) and sexual harassment (tongue down the throat and "is that a gun in your pocket..." type of unacceptable abuse) on a number of occasions. I had no doubt at the time that what I was subjected to was totally wrong, so I welcome the IBA's attempts to at least try to determine the nature and extent of this problem.
Unfortunately you only have to look at who holds the power in a firm and compare that to the total staff demographic to understand there's still a real problem.