GETTY The Harvey Weinstein scandal in Hollywood has lifted the lid on sexual harassment in the workplace

FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

After jabbing the button for our floor she turned to me with a wolfish smile and took a lunge at my crotch. “So how’s my friend today,” she challenged, her question aimed at my trousers rather than at me. Fortunately the lift doors opened and I made a hasty retreat. Not that this was the first time I’d been the subject of this woman’s wandering hands. In fact such episodes happened repeatedly during the several years we worked together at the large firm of solicitors. Sometimes her approach was verbal rather than physical.

GETTY Sexual harassment in the workplace is widespread, and even pervades Westminster and Hollywood

Women should remember that for every man they condemn, there are sisters who are doing it just as much without any concern for its appropriateness

Often it was the stuff of seaside postcards with a stream of saucy soundbites about my body (I couldn’t call it “physique” – as a criminal lawyer in his early 40s I was hardly Rambo). Even though I repeatedly told her to stop she never listened. It was only when I left the practice that I escaped her wandering clutches. Spool forward quarter of a century and look at it through the prism of what is happening in Westminster and Hollywood and the irony is palpable. In terms of those in power taking advantage of their position, the situation couldn’t have been more different.

I was a senior partner while she was a member of the admin staff. More significantly, my unwanted pest was a woman. She always said she was just having a laugh, that it wasn’t sexual. But imagine today’s politicians trying such a defence in the darkly toxic atmosphere permeating Westminster. Yet the truth is, though it happened 25 years ago, I’d have far more grounds to report it than those offering historic accusations of knee squeezing. I won’t though. I have as little appetite for reporting her today as I did then. If I had a problem with it I should have spoken out at the time.

GETTY There appears to be different rules for men and women when it comes to workplace dynamic

Why didn’t I? Well, though it was an annoyance I didn’t feel vulnerable and I certainly wasn’t threatened so I let it go. However the fact remains that when it comes to the workplace dynamic there seems to be one rule for men and another for women. Best illustrated by that Diet Coke advert where secretaries ogle a muscular window cleaner – when women gawp it’s high spirited. When men do it it’s time to call the police. It’s why I feel so deeply concerned – both as a criminal defence lawyer and an individual – about the reporting of historic allegations.

GETTY Harvey Weinstein pictured with his wife Georgina Chapman prior to their separation

For what is unravelling before us isn’t just a pollution of the presumption of innocence – the central tenet of criminal law – but the inequity of male and female behaviour. Where what would be dismissed as a bit of fun by a woman becomes a criminal act if carried out by a man. Let me be clear before I go any further. If any woman (or man) has been physically assaulted or severely compromised by a colleague or employer then the full force of the law should come to bear on the alleged perpetrator. And there have been serious allegations such as those made by Labour activist Bex Bailey, who claims she was raped by a party employee in 2011 and then discouraged by a senior official from reporting it.

GETTY Men as well as women can be targets of sexual harassment in the workplace

But it is dangerous and unjust to conflate such disturbing accusations with some old boor grazing a boozy palm over a woman’s knee. For if that boozy palm was attached to a female we wouldn’t even be talking about it. We also have to factor in that successful men can be a target for unwanted female attention. There are always women who are attracted, not to who you are but to what you represent. That’s why it seems so unfair that amid the lurid roll call of allegation and accusation that it is men who are painted solely as predators.

And it’s why I believe there should be a three-year limitation of reporting sexual offences (with exception for children, vulnerable people and under exceptional circumstances). Such a statute of limitation is the only way to help convict the guilty and clear the innocent. What I propose isn’t psychological pressure on victims or some kind of loophole for offenders: a three-year limitation would stop serial perpetrators who hitherto have enjoyed decades to continue their heinous behaviour. Also in the light of the Liam Allen case (the young man accused of rape by a woman who, it emerged at the 11th hour, was pestering him for sex) there should be a register of those who make false accusations of rape and sexual assault.

Harvey Weinstein: Who are the actresses accusing Harvey Weinstein? Wed, October 11, 2017 Harvey Weinstein has been accused of rape and sexual harassment by more than a dozen women including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow. Here are the actresses accusing Harvey Weinstein? Play slideshow Getty 1 of 11 Who are the actresses accusing Harvey Weinstein?