Feminist Molly Lynch says:

Banter. My skin crawls at the sight of those six letters. How is it that this part of our lexicon which ought to mean light-hearted chatter has now become the default defence of misogynists and sexists everywhere?

Being told you’ll do well in your new job because you’ve got ‘massive boobs’: banter. Rape jokes in the office? Lighten up, it was just banter.

If you think I’m being melodramatic, then just read the latest research on sexual harassment in the workplace. In the most far-reaching survey of a generation, the Trades Union Congress found that more than half of young women say they’ve experienced sexual harassment.

Perhaps even more depressingly, the survey shows that four out of five women do not report it.

“We’ve put up and shut up for too long”: Why it’s time to put a stop to banter in the workplace