Bullying and harassment and discrimination
Many incidents of bullying, harassment or discrimination at the Bar go unchallenged and unreported, but no barrister should be made to feel uncomfortable at work because of inappropriate behaviour and the Bar Council is committed to tackling this problem.
We know from our research that the main reason given for not reporting incidents is the fear of repercussions.
Talk to Spot is a way for people who’ve experienced these behaviours to raise the alarm and get support to take the next step. It’s a secure and confidential online tool which will help you to make a record of an incident or inappropriate behaviour.
And because it’s completely secure, it gives everyone working in and around the Bar a secure and constructive way of tackling unacceptable behaviours.
Talk to Spot is a completely secure tool designed to help people working at the Bar to record and report any incident. It will let you make a record of exactly what happened, who did it, who saw it, where it happened and when. It's simple to use and when you've inputted the information, it will generate a date stamped contemporaneous record of the incident.
No one else will see it. It belongs only to the person who created the record.
You can send the record to the Equality and Diversity team at the Bar Council and, if you want, the feedback can be used to make a formal report.
The Equality and Diversity team can support you to make a complaint about the incident. A complaint can go to your chambers, employer and/or regulator. In the case of criminal behaviour, the record can form part of a report to the police.
Submitting your report to the team at the Bar Council can be done completely anonymously, and it can open a route to more support. It also enables the Bar Council to build a picture of what's happening, and where it’s happening.
Reports on Talk to Spot have enabled the Bar Council to build a picture of what is happening around the Bar, and to intervene when we see patterns of inappropriate behaviour.
The isolation experienced by people who've been bullied, harassed, and discriminated against is one of the barriers to challenging perpetrators and dealing properly with toxic cultures.
When the Bar Council receives multiple anonymous reports about the same individual, Talk to Spot has made it possible for us to tell individuals who have used Talk to Spot that we know of others who have had the same experience. This information has empowered individuals to take their complaint further in some cases, and has at the very least let them know they are not alone.
Bullying, harassment and discrimination are nothing new and are not unique to the Bar. But we know our profession can be better, and we want to do everything we can to make it easier for someone who has experienced inappropriate behaviour to report it and stop it.
This way, we can tackle the culture which has allowed these behaviours to go unchallenged.
More support for barristers
Alongside Talk to Spot, the Bar Council continues to provide:
- Confidential helplines
- Training and support for members and chambers
- Research and guidance on all aspects of equality and diversity