London — Senior women in Britain's Parliament are demanding tougher laws against harassment after a Financial Times investigation found that women were groped at a men's only charity gala attended by hundreds of senior executives and lawmakers.
The event at London's Dorchester Hotel, which was held to raise money for charities, featured some 100 female hostesses, including two undercover FT reporters. The journalists described harassment, lewd comments and "repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms elsewhere in the Dorchester."
The event featured auction prizes of tea with Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and lunch with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Equalities committee chair Maria Miller tweeted she hopes "every man who attended this event will think twice before accepting another invitation to a 'men only' event with more than 100 female hostesses."
Let's hope every man who attended this event will think twice before accepting another invitation to a 'men only' event with more than 100 female hostesses and an ad in the event brochure that states sexual harasment of staff is unacceptable .... https://t.co/PTrRx9UYEG
— Maria_Miller (@MariaMillerUK) January 24, 2018