It’s an oft-heard sentiment that harassment, abuse and rape are less about sex and more about power. Every conversation I have had about workplace harassment in the last few weeks has borne this out, making it increasingly clear the impact that male-weighted power imbalances have on women - whether that’s from a freelance journalist’s editor, a university student’s lecturer, an executive chef in a Michelin starred kitchen or a shift manager in a retail job.

This last point is important. Abuse does not just happen in public-facing industries like journalism, media or politics – they are simply the most visible examples of what is endemic in the lives of women from every walk of life. And women in low-paid or precarious work – women far less likely to be afforded the privileges that journalists or MPs are granted – are even more vulnerable and at risk, and have even more to lose when they are subject to abuse.

No matter what role I’ve been in – from years working on a supermarket shop floor to a career in freelance writing – my female colleagues and peers have accepted that harassment is simply part of the status quo. But it doesn’t have to be like that for any woman. And soon, I hope, it won’t be.

“Yes, there is a positive to take from the recent allegations of sexual harassment”