Press Release 5th October 2019: 12 strong female voices stage 12 hour social media ‘gag’ to end the silencing of women by misused NDAs

Today, on the two year anniversary of when Harvey Weinstein’s NDA scandal first broke 12 strong female voices will be silenced across social media for 12 hours, in protest of the ongoing misuse of NDA’s that silences thousands of women every year.

The social media gag starts today at 6am and will end at 6pm. The 12 powerful women who have been gagged in protest are; Joeli Brearley, Hannah Bardell MP, Gina Martin, Dr Sue Black, Helen Pankhurst, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Deeba Syed, Christine Armstrong, Sophia Moreau, June Angelides, Triini aka Wordschild and Robyn Wilder.

Joeli Brearley, Founder of Pregnant Then screwed, comments, ‘‘Thousands of women every year are bullied, harassed and forced out of their jobs because they dared to use their uterus, then they are legally gagged. This silence is deafening, and it’s what we want to highlight with this protest today. Two years ago, the #metoo movement changed the way we talk about female oppression, but employers are still using legal weapons in the form of NDA’s to gag and silence women. If we could lift the lid on NDA’s there would be a true awakening, that is the new wave of #metoo. These 12 women are taking a stand to show their solidarity with the women forced into silence by NDAs; they are using their platforms to speak loudly for those who can’t talk at all.’

A survey of 260 women who signed NDA’s after experiencing pregnancy and maternity discrimination revealed that 91% of women who were being forced out of their job said they felt that signing a non-disclosure agreement was their only option, and 70% said it has had a negative impact on their mental health.

Employers also use NDAs to hold their victim to ransom, as demonstrated by Laura (not her real name) ‘When I told my boss I was pregnant he suggested I have an abortion. He said having a baby would ruin my career. He took clients away from me and made vile comments about my weight gain and my ability now that I had ‘baby brain.’ He started giving elements of my job to a more junior, male employee. It was clear what was going on. In the end, he said that I wouldn’t be welcome back after maternity and offered 6 months’ pay and a good reference if I signed an NDA. I had worked so hard and I was terrified about what it would mean to lose my job, but I was heavily pregnant and being legally blackmailed. I signed the NDA and left quietly. It has been over a year and there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t feel angry and hurt. Who knows if I will ever get my career back on track, but at the moment, it feels impossible.’

Pregnant Then Screwed have staged the 12 hour gag to challenge the government to set up an independent body to monitor the use of NDAs. Although a review of NDA’s has recently concluded, it does not go far enough.

Joeli Brearley explains, ‘Changes due to be implemented from the government mean that you can report it to the police if it’s a criminal defence, but pregnancy and maternity discrimination isn’t a criminal offence. Which means in these cases NDA’s can still be used with impunity to mask abhorrent behaviour and no one is monitoring their use. How are we ever going to fix a problem that we can’t see?’

Pregnant Then Screwed have a live petition, calling for the government to implement a central monitoring body for NDAs.

Joeli Brearley explains, ‘The challenge is that you can’t ban non-disclosure agreements as, in some cases, they do benefit the victim. The employer is prohibited from bad mouthing the victim to potential future employers, and without NDAs there would be little reason for the employer to settle before court. What we need are assurances that NDAs cannot be used regularly by employers to mask abhorrent behaviour, and the only way we can achieve this is by monitoring their use. All NDAs should be reported to an independent body and this body should have jurisdiction to investigate and act if they have concerns.’

Victoria (not her real name) who suffered discrimination and then signed an NDA explains, ‘Not being able to talk about what I went through has been very difficult, the whole thing was a huge knock to my self-confidence and sense of worth. I think my mental health would have been improved if I could have talked, but also if I was reassured that my employer would be held accountable and therefore not repeat what they had done to me.’

To take part in the protest please post a picture of your mouth taped and post it on social. Tag #pregnantthenscrewed #12hourgag #breakthesilence #nondisclosureagreements

ENDS

For further press information or case studies from Pregnant Then Screwed please contact: [email protected]

Notes to Editor:

About Pregnant Then Screwed (www.pregnantthenscrewed.com) is a project and campaign which protects, supports and promotes the rights of mothers who suffer the effects of systemic, cultural, and institutional discrimination through our various schemes and activities, including: A free legal advice service, a website where women post their stories of discrimination anonymously, lobbying the Government for legislative change, and a mentor scheme that supports women who are considering legal action against their employer.

NDA research:

A survey of 260 women (in Dec 2018) who signed NDA’s after experiencing pregnancy and maternity discrimination revealed that 91% of women who were being forced out of their job said they felt that signing a non-disclosure agreement was their only option, and 70% said it has had a negative impact on their mental health.

The 12 women:

• Helen Pankhurst CBE, an international development and women’s rights activist and writer, currently CARE internationals senior advisor. Grand daughter of Sylvia Pankhurst.
• Dr Sue Black, has spent over 20 years campaigning for the recognition of women in computing, and successfully lead a campaign to save Bletchley Park (the home of the WW1 codebreakers)
• Gina Martin, writer and activist who successfully campaigned to make upskirting illegal
• Joeli Brearley founder and campaigner, Pregnant Then Screwed
• Hannah Bardell MP – SNP politician and spokesperson for digital, culture media and sport. Hannah broke her NDA live on television.
• Sophia Moreau – activist fighting for maternity rights for students
• Trii (@wordschild), well known book reviewer and feminist, values the power of words
• Christine Armstrong, author of ‘How to have children and a career and stay sane-ish’
• Robyn Wilder, journalist who talks freely about mental health issues in parenthood
• Deeba Syed, Rightsofwomen and sexual harassment lawyer
• Dr Shola Mos Shogbamimu, Lawyer, founder of Women in Leadership publication; political women’s rights activist.
• June Angelides, a former tech investment banker, June Angelides is the founder of Mums in Technology.