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02 September 2016

Sexual harassment still an issue

A report by the TUC, in collaboration with the Everyday Sexism project, has revealed that more than half of women surveyed said that they had experienced sexual harassment at work.

A report by the TUC, in collaboration with the Everyday Sexism project, has revealed that more than half of women surveyed said that they had experienced sexual harassment at work.

The study also showed that in nearly one in five cases, the harassment was said to have been carried out by the woman’s line manager or someone with direct authority over them. Worryingly for businesses, of those who said they had been sexually harassed, four out of five didn’t tell their employer. Reasons for this included:

- they thought it would impact negatively on their relationships at work or on their career prospects;
- they were too embarrassed to talk about it;
- they felt they wouldn’t be believed or taken seriously.


The report highlights the various forms that this sort of harassment may take, from sexual jokes, to comments about body or clothes, to unwanted touching and sexual advances. And it can extend, for example, to overhearing comments of a sexual nature being made about colleagues.

For employers, the message is to be alert to the signs of harassment. Prevention being better than cure, there is no substitute for educating staff and having a robust policy on a zero-tolerance approach to harassment in all its forms.

The report can be found by clicking here.

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