By the Numbers: Sexual Harassment

DID YOU KNOW?

Awareness of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

• 72% of women register a high level of awareness of sexual awareness compared to 55% of men.

Overall men are less aware of the different form of sexual harassment than women, with more men recording no level of awareness.

Experience of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

• 54% of people have experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment.
• 27% of people have experienced harassment by their colleague, while 17% were harassed by their supervisor.
• 79% of the victims are women; 21% were men.
• 12% have received threats of the termination if they did not comply with the requests of the sexual harassers.

The most common forms of Sexual Harassment of those that have experienced sexual harassment.

• Being repeatedly addressed by terms that are unwelcome or offensive e.g. bimbo, darling (50%)
• Having someone “repeatedly stand very close to you/lean over you” (43%)
• Staring at body parts (39%)
• Comments on physical appearance (35%)
• Touched any part of the body (33%)

Sexual Harassment occurs more at the Supervisory and Executive levels.

• Women supervisors are 138% more likely to be sexually harassed at work when compared with women who did not hold supervisory roles.

Awareness of Mechanisms for Redress within the workplace

• 67% of people were not aware of any policies on sexual harassment.

Emotions Upon Experiencing Sexual Harassment

• 26.8% – afraid
• 55.1% – angry
• 24.6% – confused
• 8.1% – guilty
• 12.5% – resigned
• 15.1% – wish had someone to talk
• 28.3% – wish something could be done.
• 13 % – affected job performance
• 12.5% – afraid would lose job

KEEP IN MIND

Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. Any conduct of a sexual nature that makes an employee uncomfortable has the potential to be sexual harassment.

An employer has a legal responsibility to maintain a workplace that is free of sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment can sometimes come in the form of threats if the person does not go along with sexual advances, or promise of job rewards if the person does. Another type of sexual harassment is the creation of an intimidating or offensive work environment. Sexual pictures and offensive language are examples.

Sexual harassment can be physical and involve unwanted touching or physical assault. It can be verbal in the form of off-color jokes or non-verbal in the form of gestures. A male harassing a female is the common scenario. But females do harass male, and same-sex harassment also occurs.