Sexual harassment in live comedy has gone unchecked for too long

What if your workplace is a busy bar with a microphone at one end and your co-workers make lewd jokes at your expense? Finally, live comedy has its very own independent HR department, writes Katy Brand

A group of female comedians have formed the Get Off support group (Getty/iStock)

Sexual harassment in the workplace is now generally regarded as a bad thing, rather than a thing that just sort of happens so it’s best to shut up about it because nothing ever changes and you’ll just lose your job anyway, and here have a tissue, clean yourself up and get back to your desk before anyone notices.

I’m glad it’s now regarded as bad, though many HR departments are only now beginning to see they must take it seriously, if only because when it leaks onto Twitter it’s a PR nightmare.

But what if your workplace is a busy bar with a microphone at one end? And what if your industry has no HR department? Indeed what if your industry actively resists it precisely because many of its participants are actively trying to get away from things like “HR departments”? What then?