No one would argue that harassment is wrong. And no one would argue that the workplace is an exception.
Yet, there are repeated reports of that being exactly the case. In studies from 2017 and 2018, at least 30% of female respondents (and over 10% of male respondents) say they have been sexually harassed in the workplace. That is not including other forms of harassment and is definitely not including all of the unreported incidents. A conservative estimate says that between 75% – 90% of all workplace sexual harassment incidents go unreported. Unfortunately, these statistics relate solely to sexual harassment because that is the focus right now. Why is that the focus? Because it is a big problem.
For more information about harassment, please read on. But if you read no further than this, please consider… you cannot protect your workers from harassment if you don’t know what is happening. How you encourage reporting, and more importantly, how you RESPOND to those reports, will set the tone for your entire organization. Do employees believe they will be taken seriously? Is there an alternate avenue for reporting if it is their supervisor/manager allegedly harassing them?
Take a moment to consider your workplace and how much you really know. How can you ensure your workplace is a safe place? Your workers need to be physically protected, but also protected from harassment.
For more on how to get there, read the accompanying article: Harassment Prevention: Who is Responsible?
Statistics retrieved from: Dr. Sean Tucker. Young Worker Safety Research: Implications for Employers and Policy. Presented at the SHSA Youth Symposium, March 21, 2018, Regina, SK
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