By Catherine Marchant, CEO, Impact Family Services
Misogyny in the workplace often develops through repeated behaviour that is excused as banter or brushed aside. Employers must pay attention to context, power and the culture created by everyday decisions.
Most employers recognise sexual harassment as a workplace issue. The harder test is what happens before that threshold: a sexualised joke, a woman repeatedly interrupted in meetings, or her idea dismissed until a male colleague repeats it.
Misogyny at work is rarely created by one dramatic incident. It grows when everyday behaviour is dismissed as harmless, excused as personality or accepted as “just how things are here”.
Not every awkward comment or disagreement is evidence of misogyny. Context, repetition and power matter. A clumsy remark that is acknowledged and corrected differs from a pattern in which women are sexualised, undermined or expected to tolerate conduct not directed at male colleagues.
The double standards can be subtle. Confidence may be read as leadership in a man but arrogance in a woman. Ambition becomes pushiness; directness becomes aggression; emotion is used to question judgement. Assumptions about childcare or family plans can influence who receives demanding projects, development opportunities or promotion.
Influential relationships are often built through events or senior networks to which women may have less access. Some women must fight to finish a sentence in meetings or watch their ideas credited elsewhere. If they challenge this, they risk being labelled difficult, humourless or “not a team player”.
A 2023 TUC poll of 1,010 working women found that 58% had experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work.
Among those affected by sexual harassment, only 30% told their employer. Reasons included fears that they would not be believed and concerns about working relationships or career prospects.
Managers should not treat the absence of a complaint as proof there is no problem. It may mean employees do not trust what will happen next. A policy offers little reassurance if concerns are minimised, confidentiality handled badly or senior people allowed to behave differently.
Culture is shaped by what leaders challenge, what they ignore, who they promote and how they respond when concerns are raised. Since October 2024, employers have had a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. From October 2026, employers are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees, raising the standard from the previous “reasonable steps” requirement. This includes updating policies, conducting risk assessments, and providing comprehensive training to staff and management on harassment prevention and recognition. That requires more than annual training and a policy copied from a template.
Employers should examine how opportunities are allocated, provide safe ways to raise concerns and train managers to respond properly. Meeting chairs can address interruptions and return credit to the person whose idea it was. Consistent interventions change expectations.
Men have an important role, but not because all men are responsible for misogyny. Male colleagues can question a sexualised joke, stop an interruption, credit an idea correctly or speak privately to someone whose behaviour has crossed a line. This stops women carrying sole responsibility for challenging it.
At Impact Family Services, we understand how attitudes based on entitlement, control and disregard for consent can connect with wider patterns of abuse. Workplace misogyny is not the same as domestic abuse, but organisations should not ignore attitudes that allow disrespect and unequal power to become normal.
The real test is not whether a workplace has the right policy. It is whether people see it reflected in everyday decisions, conversations and consequences.
www.impactfs.co.uk