FOI 360-2025 / Mar 2025 / Sexual harassment
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 360-2025
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 24th March 2025 as follows:
- How many incidents of workplace sexual harassment get reported to the police in a calendar year?
- What type of incidence of workplace sexual harassment are most commonly reported?
- What is the most typical outcome when workplace sexual harassment is reported?
- Where are victims of workplace sexual harassment referred to after they report an incident?
On 25th March we contacted you for clarification as follows:
Where you have stated, "How many incidents of workplace sexual harassment get reported to the police.." are you referring to reports that the public have made to Warwickshire police that relate to their own workplace or, are you asking about internal allegations by police staff and officers to Warwickshire Police Professional Standards?
Where you have stated, "..in a calendar year," please specify which calendar year.
On 26th March you provided the following clarification:
Thanks for coming back to me. I'm asking for reports from the public about their own workplaces.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: Please be advised that the requested information is not held in a readily retrievable format. There is no specific crime of ‘Sexual Harassment’ and no flag or marker to identify when a crime includes a sexual harassment element. In order to determine a response to the request it would be necessary to manually review the circumstances in relation to such offences as Stalking and Harassment (under Home Office Codes 8L, 8M, 8Q, 8R and 8U) as well as some Sexual Offences, for example, there could be offences where a victim details a pattern of 'sexual based harassment' in the workplace leading up to the alleged offence. Such searches would take an inordinate amount of time and I can advise that, although you have not specified for which calendar year the information is required, any year would involve scrutinising thousands of records on an individual basis to determine if there is reference to workplace sexual harassment. The work involved in conducting such searches would be above the amount to which we are legally required to respond ie, the work involved in locating, retrieving and recording the information requested would far exceed the cost threshold (£450), which equates to 18 hours work at a standard rate of £25 per hour, as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In accordance with Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for this request.
In accordance with Section 16 of the Act, I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in suggesting ways to revise your request where possible. However, due to the volume of records involved, I am unable to suggest a way which would allow searches to be conducted within the fees limit.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB