Policy Adopted on 01/07/2025 /and will be reviewed Q2 2026 – Revision 1.0
1. Policy Statement
At Revive Church, we believe everyone should be treated with dignity and respect and that includes freedom from sexual harassment, feeling safe and supported, and having access to redress if such behavior does arise. Sexual harassment takes many forms, but whatever form it takes it is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. We are committed to taking reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at Revive Church. If you have been sexually harassed, or you have witnessed sexual harassment, we encourage you to tell us so that we can support you. At Revive Church, we maintain an open-door policy and encourage people to come forward with any concerns in relation to sexual harassment. Everyone engaging with the church, in all capacities, is responsible for upholding the principles of this policy.
Instances of sexual harassment or victimization may lead to disciplinary action up to, and including, termination of employment. This policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains up to date and to monitor its effectiveness, and any changes will be implemented and communicated to all.
2. Reason for Policy
We deplore all forms of sexual harassment and seek to ensure that the church is safe and supportive to all those who work with us. This includes employees, volunteers, contractors and third parties in all areas of our church and charity, including any outside spaces and other sites used by Revive Church.
3. Who Should Read this Policy?
- All members of the Revive Church community
4. Resources
- This policy is part of the Staff Handbook found on The Way We Work platform
- https://twww.revivechurch.uk
5. The Policy
Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person. It also covers treating someone less favorably because they have submitted to, or refused to submit to, unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or in relation to gender reassignment or sex.
- Sexual harassment may be committed by a colleague or a third party (such as customers, contractors, or visitors who interact with you). It does not need to occur in person. It can occur via digital means, including social media sites or channels (e.g. WhatsApp, Teams, Text Message, email, or social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.).
- Someone may be sexually harassed even if they were not the target of the behavior. Examples of sexual harassment include, but are not limited to:
- Sexual comments or jokes, which may be referred to as “banter”
- Displaying sexually graphic pictures, posters or photos
- Suggestive looks, staring or leering
- Propositions and sexual advances
- Making promises in return for sexual favours
- Sexual gestures
- intrusive questions about a person’s private or sex life or a person discussing their own sex life
- Sexual posts or contact in online communications, including on social media
- Spreading sexual rumors about a person
- Sending sexually explicit emails, text messages or messages via other social media
- Unwelcome touching in all forms including, hugging, massaging or kissing
Victimization is subjecting someone to detriment because they have done, are suspected of doing, or intend to do, an act which is protected under discrimination and harassment laws. These are outlined below. It is not necessary for the person to have done the protected act for detrimental treatment to be considered as victimization.
The protected acts are:
- Making a claim or complaint under the Equality Act (e.g. for discrimination or harassment)
- Helping someone else to make a claim by giving evidence or information in connection with proceedings under the Equality Act.
- Alleging that someone has breached the Equality Act
- Doing anything else in connection with the Equality Act.
Examples of victimization may include:
- Failing to consider someone for promotion because they have previously made a sexual harassment complaint.
- Dismissing someone because they accompanied a colleague to a meeting about a sexual harassment complaint.
- excluding someone from work meetings because they gave evidence as a witness for another employee as part of an employment tribunal claim about harassment.
Circumstances which are covered
- This policy covers behavior which occurs in the following circumstances:
- A work situation
- A situation occurring outside of the normal workplace or normal working hours which is related to work, e.g. a working lunch, a conference trip, or social functions
- Outside of a work situation but involving a colleague or other person connected to the church, including on social media
- Against anyone outside of a work situation where the incident is relevant to your suitability to carry out the role.
- In a Church meeting, whether that takes place in one of our buildings or elsewhere (such as small groups or on mission).
What to do if you are subject to sexual harassment or victimisation
Your dignity is of the utmost importance to Revive Church, so we encourage you to talk to us If you feel you have received unwanted conduct. We want to ensure you that your complaint will be handled sensitively and promptly.
Informal complaint
We recognize that complaints of sexual harassment or victimization can be of a sensitive or intimate nature and you may not wish to raise the issue through our normal grievance procedure. In these circumstances, you may want to raise such issues with any of our Pastoral First Contact team which is comprised of the Senior Leaders, Overseers, Safeguarding Coordinator, Operations Manager or Community Group Stewards who can act as a pastoral support. However, please be aware that this person cannot be the same person who will be responsible for investigating the matter if it becomes a formal complaint.
If you feel comfortable to do so, and with help from pastoral support, you may want to have an informal conversation with your harasser to explain their conduct is unwanted and that you want it to stop. If you feel unable to do this verbally then you could send a written request to the harasser.
In addition, you may also choose to raise concerns with your team leader or line manager in a way that feels most comfortable for you.
All the above people will listen to you and take your concerns seriously if you do this, they may encourage you to follow the reporting procedures set out below or they themselves may feel it necessary to raise this formally or raise a Safeguarding concern. If this is going to happen, you will be informed of the report.
Formal complaint
Where the informal approach fails or if the sexual harassment or victimization is more serious, you should bring the matter to the attention of the Operations Manager or Senior Leaders as a formal written complaint and again, pastoral support can assist you in this.
- Alternatively, you may wish to raise your complaint to the Trustees who may appoint our external HR Consultants, Cornerstone Resources, to hear your complaint. At any point, individuals also have the right to raise concerns externally to the Charity Commission or the police, depending on the nature of the concern.
If possible, you should keep notes of what happened so that the written complaint can include:
- the name of the alleged harasser
- the nature of the alleged harassment
- the dates and times when the alleged harassment occurred
- the names of any witnesses
- any supportive evidence you may have and are willing to disclose
- any action already taken by you to stop the alleged harassment.
On receipt of a formal complaint, we will take action to separate you from the alleged harasser to enable an uninterrupted investigation to take place. This may involve a temporary transfer of the alleged harasser to another work area or suspension with contractual pay until the matter has been resolved.
The person dealing with the complaint will invite you to attend a meeting, at a reasonable time and location, to discuss the matter and then carry out a thorough investigation. The meeting will normally be held within five working days of receipt of your complaint. You have the right to be accompanied at such a meeting by your pastoral support, or another colleague and you must take all reasonable steps to attend. Those involved in the investigation will be expected to act in confidence and any breach of confidence may be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure.
On conclusion of the investigation, which will normally be within 10 working days of the meeting with you, the decision of the investigator, detailing the findings, will be sent in writing to you.
You have the right to appeal against the findings of the investigator. If you wish to appeal, you must inform the Trustees within five working days of receiving the outcome. You will then be invited to a further meeting. As far as reasonably practicable, the church will be represented by a more senior manager than the manager who attended the first meeting (unless the most senior manager attended that meeting).
Following the appeal meeting, you will be informed of the final decision, normally within 10 working days, which will be confirmed in writing.
Regardless of the outcome of the procedure, we are committed to providing the support you may need. This may involve mediation between you and the other party or some other measure to manage the ongoing relationship.
You will not be victimized for having brought a complaint.
What to do if you witness sexual harassment or victimisation
If you witness sexual harassment or victimisation, you are encouraged to take appropriate action to address it. You should not take any action that may put you at risk of sexual harassment or other harm. If you feel able, you should intervene to prevent the matter continuing. If you cannot do this, your action may include offering support to the person who has been sexually harassed and encouraging them to report the incident or reporting the incident yourself.
If reporting the incident, you should bring the matter to the attention of the Operations Manager or the Trustees. You will be contacted within 10 working days if further information or support is necessary.
Your concerns will be handled by Operations Manager or Senior Leaders who will sensitively talk to the person subject to sexual harassment to determine how they want the matter to be handled.
Third-party sexual harassment
Third-party sexual harassment occurs when a someone within Revive church and its sites, is subjected to sexual harassment by someone who is not an employee or volunteer with us but who is encountered in connection with the Church. This includes visitors, service users, customers, contractors, members of the public, friends and family of the congregation.
To prevent third-party sexual harassment from occurring, we will:
- Minimize lone working in line with our lone working policy especially within areas where there are third party connections/ access by third party.
- Create signage for our areas where visitors, service users, contractors, customers or members of the public may be present to inform them that we have Harassment policies in place and that there is a zero tolerance to this, and that people may be asked to leave if they engage in this conduct, or authorities will be called.
- Ensure all our areas are adequately lit
- Be aware of more vulnerable people on teams who could be less likely to report incidents of harassment.
- Make sure all staff and volunteers know who our pastoral first contact team is comprised of and that every person understands who their line manager/team leader is.
- As per the lone working policy, when team members are working outside of the Church premises, make sure your visits are known, including location and who you are meeting by one other person within the organization.
If you have been subjected to third-party sexual harassment, you are encouraged to report this as soon as possible in line with the above procedures.
Should a visitor, service users, customers, contractors, members of the public, friends and family of the congregation sexually harass a member of our team (employee or volunteer) you may be asked to leave our services.
Any criminal acts will be reported to the police, and we will share information relating to the incident with the teams that need to be made aware to ensure that we maintain a consistent approach to the cessation of our services.
We will not tolerate sexual harassment by any member of our team against a third party. Instances of sexual harassment of this kind may lead to disciplinary action, including termination of employment.
Disciplinary action
If the decision is that the allegation of sexual harassment or victimization is well founded, the harasser will be liable to disciplinary action in accordance with our disciplinary procedure up to, and including, summary dismissal. If that person receives a formal warning or is dismissed for sexual harassment/victimization, they may appeal using our disciplinary appeal procedure.
When deciding on the level of disciplinary sanction to be applied, we will take into consideration any aggravating factors affecting the case. One example of aggravating factors is an abuse of power.
Training
We provide training on sexual harassment to ensure there is a clear understanding of:
- What sexual harassment is, how it may occur and that it will not be tolerated
- Expected levels of behavior
- How they can report any incidents of having been sexually harassed or having witnessed it
- How acts of harassment will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure, which can potentially result in dismissal.
We will ensure that all Staff, Trustees and our Senior Leadership Teams are trained in this policy, including preventing and managing sexual harassment in the workplace and the procedure to follow if an allegation is reported. We will also train volunteer teams.
We will regularly review the effectiveness of our training and offer refreshers when appropriate.
This policy reflects Revive Church’s commitment to creating a safe, Christ-centered environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, in line with both the Equality Act 2010 and our biblical values
