Can't Buy My Silence UK
Half way through 2024
General election anyone? 🗳️
Well, here we are…
As a campaign you are always planning for upcoming elections, but even still there is a brief moment of hysteria to get all your ducks in a row immediately when they are called. 🦆🦆🦆
We have had a steady stream of achievements with both UK legislation and law sector changes this year. Rather inconveniently though the break in parliament means that all petitions have been closed down, including ours which we launched last month with Pregnant then Screwed. We appreciate everyone who made the effort to sign and share and hope you will not mind signing again if we need to relaunch a petition after the new government is in place.
If you would like to support our work this crucial year you can now do so via our newsletter 👇👇👇
🐎 More law passed!🐎
We are pleased to report another victory with legislation in the form of the recently amended Victims and Prisoners Bill. This amendment will ensure that NDAs are void if concealing criminal conduct and that they cannot prevent victims from accessing legal, regulatory, therapeutic or other advice related to criminal conduct. We believe this clarification will empower victims, ensuring they have the freedom to seek justice and support without the fear of being silenced by NDAs.
This amendment marks the second piece of law changed in regard to NDAs - not bad after only two years of campaigning!
Was Government listening? 📣📣
The evidence CBMS gave to select committee inquiries last year was heavily cited in their reports this year with the Women and Equalities Select Committee releasing a concerning report on their inquiry into misogyny within the music industry. ‘Misogyny in Music’ found a distressing amount of NDA misuse, often employed to silence victims of harassment and discrimination. The committee called for a ‘retrospective moratorium of NDAs,’ a groundbreaking recommendation that seeks to nullify previously signed NDAs that have been used to conceal misconduct. Following on from this the Treasury Select Committee’s parliamentary inquiry,’ Sexism in the City,’ which investigated the prevalence of sexism within the financial sector, also revealed a shocking misuse of NDAs to cover up incidents of discrimination and harassment and also recommended a complete ban on NDAs.
It is therefore incredibly disappointing that despite the findings the Government refused to ban non-disclosure agreements in all harassment cases. There have now been FOUR select committee reports and one Government department consultation recommending root and branch change in legislation on NDAs, so why has the conservative government allowed these power imbalances to stay in place?
Answers on a postcard please… 📮
Law sector creeping forward… 📄
In February, the Legal Services Board published their summary report commenting on the alarming evidence of the misuse of NDAs. We are waiting with bated breath as to what action they will take. This could lead to a statutory policy change making it an offence for solicitors to use NDAs to conceal any form of harm which would essentially solve the issue and is our ultimate goal.
We are also happy to say that the Bar Council has publicly supported the need for legislative reform concerning NDAs. In a recent public statement, they declared that “NDAs are ripe for legislative change” and expressed their approval of any government’s intent to implement these necessary reforms. This endorsement from the Bar Council underscores the legal community's recognition of the urgent need to address the misuse of NDAs and we are grateful for the open dialogue we have had in these discussions.
CBMS take to the Royal Courts of Justice ⚖️
On the 14th of May over 100 of us stood, gagged, outside the royal courts of justice to represent the women who have signed abusive NDAs.
We protested in collaboration with Pregnant then Screwed, whose most recent survey showed that 435,293 mothers in the UK have been silenced by an NDA or confidentiality clause following harassment, discrimination or bullying at work. The new data also reveals the devastating and lasting impact that NDA’s and confidentiality clauses have on mothers’ lives, with three-quarters of mothers who have signed one reporting mental health deterioration as a result.
Can’t Buy My Silence and Pregnant then Screwed have joined forces in calling all political parties to put an end to the misuse of non-disclosure agreements. If you are interested in joining us on this mission, get in touch with our Whisper Network…
Across the pond 🇨🇦
In May Zelda joined co-founder Julie Macfarlane for a cross-Canada tour to meet with senators, ministers, and members of Parliament in Ottawa, as well as members of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. The tour included a press conference in Ottawa with Senators Marilou McPhedran and Kim Pate, an introduction to the Canadian Senate, an introduction to the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia and another press conference with BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau.
You can find out more about the trip and what progress has been made over at CBMS’s Canadian newsletter »here«.
Up next…?🔮
A new government means the potential for big change and we’re hitting the ground running.
The last few months CBMS have been working with Marina Wheeler KC and Emily Thornberry on Labour's Green Paper investigating how to improve womens experience in the workplace, focusing on misconduct and whistleblowing. Our extensive research, data and advocacy work have provided the insights that will inform the Green Paper's recommendations on legal and policy reforms and we were really excited by the keen engagement of Marina and Emily. Labour have the opportunity to make groundbreaking progress here for workers with something that won’t cost anything (we know the coffers are empty) Lets see what the manifesto holds…
Concrete change
If you’re wondering what change could look like, we’ve now got a handy guide of our top 10 legislative advances which has come into effect globally over the last few years. This guide stands to show that this change is possible- indeed it’s already in action!
👉👉👉👉👉 »READ HERE« 👈👈👈👈👈👈👈👈👈
Till next time, and remember don’t sign anything you don’t understand….
Zelda & team
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