Former party leader Leanne Wood claims many 'get away' with harassment

Former party leader Leanne Wood has said some people get away with sexually harassing or assaulting their victims because many do not report it.

The Rhondda AM said every woman she knows has experienced unwanted sexual attention.

She is leading an event aimed at changing the way sexual harassment, assault and violence are dealt with.

"I've always found everybody's got some story," she said.

The Time's Up network was launched last year to provide support for women making allegations.

The aim is to ask people what they feel needs to change for survivors to have the confidence to report incidents.

Time's Up was set up after the #MeToo movement - a social media trend of people sharing experiences of sexual harassment and abuse.

It supports survivors and aims to bring about lasting change in society.

Leanne Wood says people do not have confidence in the system to report sexual crimes

"It's so prevalent," she told BBC Wales.

"My experience over many years is every time it comes up in conversation, in a professional or personal sense, I've always found everybody's got some story... whether it's about touching on the backside in a bar in Brussels through to horrific gang rape.

"At some point or other we are going to have to recover from this societal disease, if I want a society where my 14-year-old doesn't grow up with it."

She added that #MeToo had given some people the confidence to report what had happened to them, but many cases had fallen quiet or were dropped and some survivors still did not feel able to come forward.

"I feel frustrated that I have encouraged people to complain and come forward with things and counsel them, or try to help them along the way, believing we're having a revolution, that things might be different, given the momentum.

"I've seen some of these women take a big step backwards as a result of that blow... the promise we were given at the start about the #MeToo campaign just hasn't materialised."

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Chisomo Phiri, National Union of Students Wales women's officer, said: "It is not controversial, radical, political, or partisan to suggest that no woman should have to live in fear of, or with the reality of, violence or harassment."

Domestic abuse charity Welsh Women's Aid said it had been working with the Time's Up movement in the year since #MeToo.

"Over the year we have seen the national conversation changing, with the acknowledgement across industries of the ubiquitous of women's experiences of sexual harassment and the need to take action to address the cultures and inequalities that have allowed it to continue.

"However our sexual violence service members continue to report to us the uncertainty and chronic shortage of funding to meet the increasing demand for support."

The Time's Up event takes place between 14:00 and 17:00 on Thursday at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay.