Our message to Parliament: stop employers covering up abuse

We, together with Can’t Buy My Silence and Louise Haigh MP, ramped up the campaign to stop employers misusing contracts to silence victims of abuse this week by handing in our major petition to 10 Downing Street, before rushing to Parliament to rally MPs and Lords at a high-profile event.

First, we handed in the signatures of over 92,000 people, giving a voice to thousands of victims of workplace discrimination, harassment and abuse nationwide who have been silenced by oppressive contracts known as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). 

Next, we joined an event hosted by Louise Haigh MP, Layla Morran MP and Lee Barron MP, designed to get politicians from all parties to back the campaign. We were even joined by the talented singer and campaign advocate, Rebecca Ferguson, who has bravely broken her own NDAs to speak out about her shocking experiences whilst competing in the ITV talent show, The X Factor. The event gave a vital platform for multiple victims to share the devastating impact of the misuse of NDAs on their own lives, and for MPs to speak directly to their constituents about the issue.

This long-running campaign was spearheaded by Zelda Perkins, co-founder of Can’t Buy My Silence, who became the first woman to break her own NDA with Harvey Weinstein in 2017. This year, Louise Haigh MP has raised vital awareness and political backing for the campaign in Parliament by putting forward an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill to finally stop employers from misusing NDAs to silence victims of abuse. With the amendment set to return to the House of Lords next week, the event was a crucial opportunity to urge Peers to give it their full support. 

Together, we’ll keep up pressure on the Government to seize this opportunity to finally stop the misuse of NDAs and stop the silencing of victims nationwide.