Sexual harassment and victimisation: what happens in the workplace

Introduction

Sexual harassment and victimisation can be considered a dark side of organisational life (i.e. negative workplace behaviour). Sexual harassment and victimisation are workplace stressors and can result in various health problems, among them mental ill-health and cardiovascular diseases due to prolonged stress exposure. They also have more other consequences, such as lower morale, higher absenteeism, job turnover, lower productivity, lower organisational commitment, lower job satisfaction and lower performance. Both men and women could experience sexual harassment. However, it is more commonly reported among women; particularly, among women working in the hotel and restaurant and health care sectors. This article explores these issues within the European Union (EU) and discusses workplace practices that aim to reduce these behaviours.

Understanding sexual harassment/victimisation

Sexual harassment and victimisation, while not limited to the workplace, are actions that could cause undue mental ill-health for those at the receiving end, and therefore are stressors within the work environment. To gain a fuller understanding of these actions, it is useful to recognise what sexual harassment and victimisation refers to.

Definition of sexual harassment and victimisation

In the literature there is not a universal definition of what constitutes sexual harassment^[1]. One definition that is applicable across the European Union (EU) can be found within EU Directive 2006/54/EC ^[2], ‘Where any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature occurs with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment'. The EU definition focuses on: a) personal experiences of being subjected to sexual harassment at work and b) awareness of the existence of sexual harassment at the workplace.

The International Labour Organisation decribes sexual harassment in the context of gender-based violence and harassment. ILO Convention n° 190 on the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment defines gender-based violence and harassment as 'violence and harassment directed at persons because of their sex or gender, or affecting persons of a particular sex or gender disproportionately, and includes sexual harassment'.^[3]  More specifically, sexual harassment is described as 'any physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature and other conduct based on sex affecting the dignity of women and men, which is unwelcome, unreasonable, and offensive to the recipient; and a person’s rejection of, or submission to, such conduct is used explicitly or implicitly as a basis for a decision which affects that person’s job.'^[4] The distress caused by the act or series of acts may be intentional or unintentional. Sexual harassment can be coercive sexual behaviour used to control, influence or affect the job, career or status of a protected person. It can also be manifested when one or more persons submit a protected person, at any level, to offensive behaviour or humiliation on the basis of that protected person's sex or sexuality, even though there may be no apparent impact on the career or employment of the protected person concerned. 

Sexual harassment involves a range of behaviours^[5]:

• Non-verbal, e.g. sexually suggestive gestures, display of sexual material;
• Verbal, e.g. sexually suggestive comments or jokes;
• Physical, e.g. touching, hugging, kissing, rape;
• Cyber, e.g. offensive, sexually explicit e-mails or SMS messages, offensive,
• inappropriate advances on social networking sites.

Victimisation, on the other hand, is clearly seen as 'discrimination against someone because of their involvement in a discrimination complaint either as the complainant or as a witness, or as someone who has previously been accused and found not guilty of harassment' ^[6]. Sexual harassment and victimisation are within the overall purview of harassment.

European directives and framework agreement

At the European level, the Directives 2000/43/EC^[7] and 2006/54/EC are anti-discrimination directives adopted to specifically address racial and sexual harassment in the workplace^[8]. Under these directives, any forms of sexual harassment, gender or racial discrimination are viewed as violating the dignity of the person.

Directive 2006/54/EC^[2] extends beyond the workplace to include access to employment, vocational training and promotion. Furthermore, the Directive notes that “‘harassment and sexual harassment, as well as any less favourable treatment based on a person’s rejection of or submission to such conduct" constitute discrimination related to sex and are therefore prohibited. 

In 2007, a framework agreement on harassment and violence at work was signed by European social partners^[9], including the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), BusinessEurope, the European Association of Craft Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME), and the European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services (CEEP). This framework agreement, which encompasses sexual harassment, aims to increase awareness and understanding of workplace harassment and violence between employers, workers and their representatives.

Risk factors for sexual harassment and victimisation

Due to the various explanations attributed to sexual harassment, it is challenging to measure or quantify it and as such to make comparisons between countries^[1] [10] . Despite this, available data demonstrate some consistencies in socio-demographic characteristics among victims. On average, victims are more likely to be women, under the age of 30, are more likely to be single or divorced, and have a lower level of education^[8]. In contrast, harassers are more likely to be men (although there is not a distinct profile). When considering hierarchies in the workplace, it seems that sexual harassment can come from anywhere. The Australian survey 2022 on sexual harassment in the workplace^[11] found that just over a third of individual harassers (36%) were more senior than the person harassed, about a third (32%) were at the same or lower levels and just under a third (30%) were a customer or someone associated with the workplace. 

While there are no definitive explanations to account for sexual harassment, some of the proposed organisational factors that may increase sexual harassment include^{[1][5][12][13]}:

• power or power imbalance
• tolerance for sexual harassment;
• gender representation;
• uncivil and unjust climate;
• job insecurity and precarious employment;
• increased inequality and discrimination;
• increased dependency; and
• pressure to keep quiet about abuses.

Another organisational factor implied to lead to “a heightened likelihood of supervisory bullying and general harassment" is organisational chaos^[14]. It refers to an organisational environment in which procedures and policies to encourage effectiveness, civility and mutual respect are not set in place and in which coherent work procedures are substituted by bullying^[15]. When the nature and content of work is very physically demanding and consists mainly of a minority workforce this can increase the risk of sexual harassment ^[15] . In addition to organisational risk factors, there are also individual factors. For example, women under 30, single or divorced, with lower levels of education are particularly at risk To some extent, sexual harassment could be even more prevalent among younger women, as perceptions of what constitutes sexual harassment seem to change with age and higher professionalism^[5].

Theories of sexual harassment

Researchers have advanced three major theories: male dominance, gender-role spill over and sex-ratio theories^[14]. Male dominance focuses on men keeping their power in their organisations by using sexual harassment, while gender-role spill over proposes that as men are used to dealing with women in a subordinate role, in both domestic and social situations, that they then transfer such interactions to the workplace. The third theory of sex ratio centres on the distribution of men to women in workplace. Wherein workplaces with a higher ratio of women to men are more likely to exhibit harassment, when compared to those with fewer women where it is easier for men to maintain power^[14]. In addition, over the short-term, when more women enter the workforce, sexual harassment tends to increase^[1]. This may reflect a response to a perceived 'threat'. This perceived threat may arise as men may wish to retain their power and privilege within the organisation^[16]. These theories are useful, but are not definitive and should be considered together with other factors that are present within organisations.

Sexual harassment within the organisation

The EWCS Telephone Survey 2021 (EWCTS 2021)^[17] revealed that across the EU, almost 3% of workers reported unwanted sexual attention during the last month. This prevalence is fairly consistent across the different countries, with figures ranging from 0.6% (Spain) up to 7% (Denmark). However, true prevalence rates may be higher, with victims unwilling to report such experiences due to feeling ashamed, or by downplaying the situation. The FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) Survey of Violence against Women, based on 42,000 women in the EU^[18] reported that 21% of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the preceding 12 months. According to the ILO global survey carried out in 2021^[19] 6.3 % or approximately 205 million people in employment had experienced sexual violence and harassment in their working life.

Gender impact

Women are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from unwanted sexual attention than men. As seen in Figure 1, women aged less than 35 years of age report the highest exposure to sexual harassment. Within each age group, women consistently report higher exposure than their male counterparts. The likelihood of a young woman (18–34 years) reporting unwanted sexual attention is three times higher than men of the same age, and 10 times higher than the oldest group of men (50+ years)^[20].

Figure 1: Unwanted sexual attention in the workplace in the EU (%)

Source^[20]

There is a general acceptance that female employees are the ones most likely to experience sexual harassment. However, also other forms of sexual harassment do occur with men more often targeted than assumed, primarily by other men. However, some men do report harassment by women, and some women, although relatively few, report being harassed by other women^[21].

Moreover, vulnerable women such as women with disabilities and migrant women are more exposed to sexual harassment. For example, studies within the US show that women with disabilities are more likely to suffer from sexual abuse due to their physical and cognitive impairments^[22]. The ILO global survey 2021 indicates that migrant women were almost twice as likely as non‐migrant women to report sexual violence and harassment (10.0 % compared to 5.4%)^[19].

Sexual orientation

Findings from a large survey carried out in Australian workplaces in 2022^[11] indicate that people with minority sexual orientations are significantly more likely than others to experience workplace sexual harassment. Among 46% of those who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, queer, asexual, aromantic, undecided, not sure, questioning or other, reported they experienced workplace sexual harassment in the last 5 years compared to 31% of people who identified as straight or heterosexual. The highest rate was reported by lesbian women. 60% of them reported having experienced workplace sexual harassment^[11]. This finding is confirmed in other studies showing that LBT women are more exposed to a range of unwanted sexual behaviours and are much more likely than heterosexual women to report experiencing sexual harassment, physical aggression or unwanted sexual activities by a boss, colleague or client^[23].

Sector impact

Across sectors, women are more likely to be sexually harassed when they work in male-dominated jobs (such as, a police officer, bus or taxi driver), and within traditional 'female' jobs (such as a waitress, nurse, and sales(wo)men)^[1]. Women in military settings also report a high occurrence of sexual harassment and rape ^[24][25]. One of the reasons for this may relate to the sex ratio theory described above^[14]. According to the EWTCS 2021 the highest reported prevalence of sexual harassment can be found in the Commerce and hospitality sector (2,2% reported unwanted sexual attention in the workplace during the last month) and the Public administration, education and health sector (2,1%). The sectors with the lowest prevalence were Construction and transport (1,4%) and Agriculture and industry (0,9%) ^[17]. 

Healthcare workers reported up to three times higher levels of unwanted sexual attention than the EU average (5.7% compared with 1.7%) ^[20].

Workers in precarious employment are twice as likely as those in more fixed employment to experience sexual harassment ^[26][18]. In general, a higher proportion of women than men work in precarious forms of employment in the EU. This may be another factor to explain why women are more likely to be sexually harassed. In Spain, for example, 18.5% of all women who work, report sexual harassment. This percentage increases to 27.1 among women who work with a non-regular employment contract^[27]. Sexual harassment is also commonly reported by workers in low-skilled white-collar jobs^[8], and by women working in top management (25%), or in professional groups (29%) ^[18].

Cultural differences may influence how men and women perceive and respond to sexual harassment. For example, sexual harassment in the workplace may be associated with deeply entrenched gender stereotypical attitudes. Whereby, the way of looking at women as objects of sexual desire and accepting that they have a subordinate role in society and in the family, may facilitate or exacerbate the sexual harassment of women at work^[28]. This is further strengthened by the patriarchal stereotypes that accept male domination and women's economic and emotional dependence on men and supports a negative attitude to women as the norm within the work environment^[28]. The #MeToo movement has brought sexual harassment into the public debate. The scale and scope of this debate owe much to the social media campaign encouraging women to spread the phrase ‘#MeToo’ to draw attention to the scale and omnipresence of the problem of sexual harassment. The movement has helped to raise awareness about what is acceptable (and what is not) and to empower victims to report their harassers^[5]. Whether or not the #Metoo movement will lead to a decrease of sexual harassment in the workplace is unclear. A US study did report that fewer women reported sexual coercion and unwanted sexual attention following the #MeToo movement but noticed on the other hand an increase in reports of gender harassment suggesting that while blatant sexual harassment might be declining, workplaces may be seeing an increase in hostility toward women^[29]. On the other hand, the movement has also generated controversy, making men more concerned, including in the workplace, about false allegations of sexual harassment they may face. A survey has shown that male managers reported to be 'afraid' to mentor women or to be alone with them, fearing to be falsely accused of sexual harassment^[30].

Cost and consequences

There can be both a direct and indirect impact on organisations and workers due to sexual harassment. For example, compensation is one of the key direct costs of sexual harassment. The indirect costs of sexual harassment include: low productivity, high absenteeism, low performance, low morale and job turnover. Quinn, Woskie and Rosenberg^[28] observed higher rates of job turnover, sickness absence and lower productivity associated with reports of sexual harassment. Further, the decline in the physical and mental health of the harassed workers may lead to increased absenteeism, lower work satisfaction, a poorer working climate and lower motivation, as well as higher levels of job and work withdrawal (e.g. not connecting with colleagues)^[1].

Victimisation, as experienced through negative workplace behaviours, has led to employee ill-health, in the form of poor mental health and cardiovascular health^[31]. Another consequence is lower organisational commitment^[16]. Most importantly, these negative outcomes are not dependent on sustained and prolonged sexual harassment as even low-level, but frequent incidences could were found to have a negative impact on a sample of working women ^[32]. 

These negative repercussions are not work specific and for those being harassed, they are more likely to experience psychosomatic symptoms, loss of self-esteem, with the impact intruding on their private life^[1]. Female workers in the EU-27 who had experienced sexual harassment reported feeling anger (45%), annoyance (41%), embarrassment (36%) fearful (29%) and ashamed (20%). Furthermore, 20% of female victims reported feelings of vulnerability, 14% reported anxiety and 13% reported a loss of self-confidence18. It is important to assess the gender effect as well. Men sexually harassed are more likely than women to abuse alcohol^[33][34]. Higher levels of sexual harassment showed stronger levels of depression and mental ill-health for men, than for women^[35].

Prevention and positive practises

Due to the negative consequences outlined above, it is important to manage and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The EU Directive 2006/54/EC^[2] prohibits sexual harassment and asks Member States to encourage employers to facilitate equal treatment for men and women. Health and well-being is a key component for effective working life^[10], and this is disrupted when sexual harassment and victimisation occur. In order to eliminate sexual harassment, it is necessary to know what drives such behaviour. However, as the reasons are not explicit, this requires more empirical investigation to understand why these behaviours occur. These investigations should include both quantitative and qualitative methods, and should include researchers with expertise in sexual assault and of the women (and men) to whom this occur^[36]. The further understanding of the factors and mechanisms that underpin sexual harassment and victimisation in the workplace are essential to inform the development of effective organisational policies and workplace practices.

Although there is no specific method or practice that eliminates sexual harassment totally at present, organisations may prefer to implement a more assertive approach to deal with such behaviours. However, this may result in women being in an uncomfortable position as women and men tend to revert to gender-stereotyped ways when challenged, with women emoting and men acting^[37].

An organisational culture that promotes a positive social climate (employee-oriented instead of job-oriented) and that is responsive to female workers who wish to balance their work and personal obligations is less likely to have sexual harassment concerns^[1].

One method involves organisational change that is driven by the employees, the 'bottom-up' approach, to promote a culture of mutual respect, inclusive of the cyclical elements of^[38]:

• problem recognition;
• employee learning and development; and
• evaluation of change effectiveness.

While this people-centred approach focuses on an organisational 'informal' system, this will work together with more formal processes (such as, anti-harassment policies ^[38]). Some of the recommendations that have been promoted to ensure a successful policy are^[1][39] :

• a change of working culture, with the issue of sexual harassment being taken seriously;
• providing information about sexual harassment to the entire workforce on a regular basis, and training involved persons;
• management support;
• confidential counselling services and grievance committees with the necessary facilities, not directly related to the management; and
• grievance procedures specifically related to sexual harassment; and sexual harassment policy should be a part of equal opportunities policy.

Prevention and positive practices could occur at both a micro (individual, employee, organisational) and macro (governmental) level. The governmental approach is highlighted earlier in this article and shows that governments regulate against such negative practices. A comparative study (2022)^[40] on the legislation regarding sexual harassment at work in 192 countries showed that more and more countries adopt specific regulation prohibiting such adverse behaviour. However, in 22 % of high-income, 26 % of middle-income, and 34 % of low-income countries, there is no legislation specifically prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace^[40].

At a micro/individual-level, research demonstrates that victims of sexual harassment tend to use coping strategies that are less direct and forceful, such as, avoiding the person doing the harassing or trying to placate the offender  ^[15] [32]. Individuals may use either an active or passive style to cope with these behaviours, and the style adopted depends on and is influenced by individual differences^[37]. Any method or combination of methods that are chosen should be continuously assessed for their effectiveness, especially for policy and training^[16].

Although general policies are useful, organisations should have in place policies, procedures and practices specific and holistic to their respective organisation. This would mean generating more information on understanding how and why individuals are targeted and how victims cope with workplace harassments as coping strategies have been shown to buffer the stress associated with such experiences^[16][39].

Future directions for research and assessment of sexual harassment

Although data are available on some aspects of sexual harassment, there are areas that would benefit from further and more in-depth research and assessment^[1]:

• the sexual harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) workers;
• the sexual harassment of women and men from ethnic minorities;
• quantitative and qualitative differences between the sexual harassment of men and women;
• the consequences for the organisations in terms of financial and economic costs;
• the influence of organisational culture and structure on the occurrence of sexual harassment and effects of policy measures.