Creating an offence of public sexual harassment

Ministers undertook that by Parliament’s 2022 summer recess the government would launch a consultation on whether a specific offence for public sexual harassment (sexual harassment in public spaces) should be created.

This page contains the consultation document and associated impact assessment.

The consultation asks:

• whether or not a specific criminal offence of public sexual harassment should be created
• if such an offence were to be created, what it should look like
• whether the government should take additional non-legislative actions to tackle public sexual harassment (either instead of or in addition to a new criminal offence)

The consultation is a targeted rather than a public one, and it has been sent to recipients in:

• charities and organisations focused on crimes which disproportionately affect women and girls (including organisations focused on male victims of those crimes)
• victim-focused charities
• children’s and schools sectors
• organisations related to the world of work
• policing
• the legal sector
• local government
• night-time economy organisations
• transport organisations
• specialist academia

You can view the consultation in British Sign Language.