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A rape victim has accused Labour of kicking sexual harassment issue "into the long grass" as she renews calls for an independent system to deal with complaints.

Bex Bailey, who waived her anonymity told last year how she was raped at a party event aged 19 - and a senior Labour official urged her not to report it.

The 25-year-old said the senior colleague told her speaking out about the attack "might damage me", adding: "I don’t think I was even given a cup of tea."

Ms Bailey said a report into sexual harassment within the Labour Party found senior Labour figures have “trivialised” and “accommodated” sexual harassment.

(Image: @bexbailey/Twitter)

Labour appointed independent expert human rights Karon Monaghan QC to carry out the report after Ms Bailey described how she was sexually assaulted at a Labour event in 2011.

Ms Monaghan was appointed to carry out an investigation into Ms Bailey's claims as well as a wider review of Labour's processes for dealing with sexual harassment.

She delivered her report to party officials in May, but they had then passed onto another inquiry into sexual harassment being carried by Labour's in-house QC, Gordon Nardell.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Bex Bailey said she had to fight to read the report and was only allowed to do so under supervision by a member of Labour's staff.

In a new interview with the BBC's PM programme she accused the party of kicking the issue "into the long grass".

She said: “It's not just my case that's not been handled properly… Senior members of the Labour [party] even have closed their eyes to these issues.

“They have trivialised sexual harassment, accommodated it and not handled it as they should have done and I think now is the time finally to start taking this seriously, put it back on the agenda.

She said: "I know that Karon's report found that not only is sexual harassment rife in the Labour party as we've all known and feared, which is the reason why I did the interview originally, but actually that it's not being dealt with.

(Image: PA)

"It's not just my case that's not been handled properly, but we've got a situation where the report clearly says that ... senior members of the Labour party even have closed their eyes to these issues.

"They have trivialised sexual harassment, accommodated it and not handled it as they should have done and I think now is the time finally to start taking this seriously, put it back on the agenda."

(Image: @bexbailey/Twitter)

On Tuesday the ruling National Executive Committee will decide which rule changes it will recommend at the party's annual conference in Liverpool next week.

Unless they approve a fully independent system for dealing with complaints, it will be another 12 months before the issue can be considered again.

She said: "The key recommendations and what I and other women in the party have been calling for, for a long time, is that we need independence in the complaints system, which means that instead of staff and elected officials investigating and adjudicating on themselves and their friends, there is an independent expert or experts in place who can do that and make a recommendation to the party.

(Image: Internet Unknown)

She urged members of the NEC to read the report before discussing changing the rules, she added: "Women in the party have been waiting a really long time for this and we should be able to feel safe, to feel like our issues are listened to and to be able to report it when things go wrong."

She said it was "crucial" that the ruling committee implemented a "simple rule change" to enable an independent complaints process.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party is committed to continually improving our procedures for dealing with sexual harassment complaints and we thank Bex Bailey for her work to improve these procedures and for her incredible bravery.

“Karon Monaghan QC’s report assessed the Party’s previous procedures, which we recognise were not fit for purpose. These procedures have since been improved, for example by introducing a helpline for members to report complaints, anonymising all cases, and appointing an independent specialist organisation to offer confidential advice and support to any individual affected by sexual harassment within the Party.



“The Party is currently considering further changes to our procedures in light of Karon Monaghan QC’s report, to ensure sexual harassment complaints are always dealt with promptly, fairly and with utmost confidentiality.”



A Labour Party source said:“The Party is proposing a rule change on this matter, which will be considered at the NEC meeting tomorrow. Many of the recommendations made in Karon Monaghan QC’s report have already been implemented.”