Story 35

I’ve been in finance for 10 years. When I joined a grad scheme in the City- a male director described as ‘punchy’ was hired onto the team from another bank.

For the next two years he would harass me on the trading floor – in front of colleagues, he’d ask why I was so happy and called me names like princess and use derogatory terms about women openly.

When I raised the issue at my quarterly reviews, management told me to just stand up for myself. I was 22. I didn’t know how to ‘stand up for myself’.

After 2 years, I resigned to go to a competitor because I’d had enough- and the director in question was mysteriously fired. HR asked me not to include any mention of the harassment in my exit interview.

He turned up seamlessly at another bank shortly after.

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