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Sexual harassment
It is difficult to find out how common sexual harassment is, because it often goes unreported. A survey in 1993 for the Industrial Society (now the Work Foundation) found that although 54% of women and 9% of men had suffered sexual harassment at work, only 5% had formally complained about it.
A survey by the Equal Opportunities Commission (now part of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)) of people who contacted the Commission for advice on sexual harassment found victims working in a range of occupations, from managers to police officers and bar assistants. Half were aged between 25 and 34, 60% were employed in workplaces with fewer than 100 workers, and nearly four in 10 in workplaces of fewer than 25. Nearly three-quarters claimed to have been harassed by managers or owners/managing directors, and 95% said they had been harassed by men.
“Those who experience sexual harassment range from managers and professionals to unskilled manual workers. Although there is not a particular type, those being subjected to harassment are usually women and often young, single or divorced and with relatively low levels of education. Perpetrators of harassment are generally male and often in a position of power compared with the person they are harassing. Characteristically, they tend to have low levels of self-control and self-monitoring behaviour, in other words, do not take into account the effect of their behaviour on others.”
Centre for Equality and Diversity at Work, Working Paper No 59 commissioned by the EOC, Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, a Literature Review, 2007
Unsurprisingly, studies suggest that expanding internet and email usage has opened up new possibilities for sexual harassment, with a general increase in unsolicited emails. There is evidence that some people who would never consider sexually harassing someone face-to-face are more willing to do this in a de-personalised, online environment. It is also all too easy for some senders to misconstrue how an electronic message is likely to be interpreted by its recipient.
A 2005 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 20% of employers had received complaints from employees about improper or harassing emails received at work.
Sexual harassment can occur in any workplace — and not only in male-dominated ones. Migrant and other low-paid precarious workers are at particular risk of sexual harassment because of their economic vulnerability (and in many cases, their dependence on their job to avoid deportation). Illegal workers are at even greater risk.
In 2010-11, 18,300 claims were lodged with employment tribunals alleging sex discrimination – up slightly on the previous year. The median tribunal award was £6,078. Claims lodged at tribunals are believed to represent only a fraction of the sexual harassment experienced in the UK.