AG百家乐在线官网

Labour activist Ava Etemadzadeh alleges she was sexually harassed by MP Kelvin Hopkins - claims he denies. She explains why proposals by a cross-party group to tackle harassment in Westminster fall short:

It is disappointing to see that after years of sexual harassment and abuse in Westminster, political parties have just started taking measures to tackle this issue.

Had victims of sexual harassment not come forward and publicly talked about it, I doubt this matter would have been taken seriously.

I believe the are not fit for purpose for the reasons outlined below.

:: Protecting the identity of the accused would be detrimental

I understand that there are concerns about false accusations against MPs.

However, not naming MPs who are being accused of sexual harassment would be problematic in terms of not encouraging others who have suffered abuse and harassment to come forward.

Had I not named Kelvin Hopkins, I would not have known that there were other people who claim to have been harassed by him.

Naming Kelvin Hopkins also gave courage to Kerry McCarthy to come forward and make a formal complaint about it.

In addition, we saw what an impact Harvey Weinstein's case had on the rest of the world in terms of cultural and structural change.

:: It is not clear whether this independent system would apply to victims who are not employees of Parliament or political parties

We need a procedure that helps victims of sexual abuse, including political activists, councillors and CLP members to come forward.

When I was allegedly harassed by Kelvin Hopkins, there were no proper system in place for a Labour activist to refer to.

:: Training MPs on what constitutes as sexual harassment would not be very effective

However, if there is going to be such training, there should be one that also applies to those who stand for parliament and other elections.

Kelvin Hopkins has been suspended by the Labour Party and continues to strongly deny Ms Etemadzadeh's claims.

The allegations have been referred to the party's highest disciplinary body, the National Constitutional Committee, and the investigation is ongoing.

Mr Hopkins has said he is happy for the committee to investigate and "clear my name".