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Kate, a former City worker, said, “Often client after-work meetings became visits to strip clubs, and I knew senior guys who had told HR they wanted a new junior team member and that she must be slim, blond and pretty.” 

She claimed that screensavers and pictures of semi-naked women were not uncommon around the office.

“One guy refused to work with me because he said my breasts were off-putting, and management responded by asking me if I had done anything to provoke this, then moving the guy who complained to a separate desk,” Kate added.

Dr Katherine Rake, director of the Fawcett Society, said that behind the conspicuous wealth of the City was a hidden story of disadvantage and discrimination affecting women at every level of business - from the bathroom to the boardroom.

"Women have the right to dignity and respect in their workplaces and in their daily lives. It is time for women and men to stand up against the sexist culture of objectifying women that has gripped our society,” Rake added.

The Sexism and the City campaign is calling upon Government, businesses and individual employees to take urgent action.

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Related links 

• The Fawcett Society
• Sexism and the City manifesto