QMUL Signs the Can't Buy My Silence Campaign
Queen Mary is pleased to announce it is a signatory of Can't Buy My Silence, the campaign committed to end the misuse of NDAs (non disclosure agreements) to buy victims' silence.
What is the campaign?
The campaign's goal is legislative and regulatory change that will make NDAs unenforceable when hiding crime, abuse or anything other than their original purpose (which is the prevention of sharing confidential business information (“intellectual property”) and trade secrets).
In the words of the campaign, "NDAs are contracts that were created to protect trade secrets but when used wrongly become secret settlement contracts used to buy the silence of a victim or whistleblower. They have become the default solution for organisations, corporations and public bodies to settle cases of sexual misconduct, racism, pregnancy discrimination and other human rights violations".
What have we pledged?
The pledge reads as follows:
“(W)e [our vice-chancellor and higher education provider] commit to not using Non-Disclosure Agreements to silence people who come forward to raise complaints of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, or other forms of harassment and bullying.”
Our signing of the pledge is visible on the Can't Buy My Silence website, where further information can also be accessed.