Young women are experiencing abuse, bullying, and sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a new survey. A whopping, two out of three young women have experienced sexual harassment, bullying, or verbal abuse at work, a new TUC survey finds.
The TUC, also known as The Trade Union Congress, said its survey of 1,000 women found that most victims don’t report incidents because they fear they won’t be believed or that it could damage their careers.
If that wasn’t shocking enough, the report found that most of these cases were not isolated incidents with more than three in five women saying they’ve experienced three or more incidents of bullying at work, said the union organisation.
The poll was published as the TUC warned that some Conservative MPs and Lords were trying to “sabotage” new laws aimed at protecting workers from sexual harassment and assault at work.
Most often, incidents of sexual harassment, bullying, or verbal abuse happen at work in work premises, but they also happen over phone or text messages and online, by email, on social media or on a virtual meeting, the TUC said.
The survey found that fewer than one in three women who say they experienced sexual harassment at work told their employer about what was happening.
“Every woman should be safe from sexual harassment but every day we hear stories about the extent of sexual harassment in our workplaces,” TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said.
“We know many women in public-facing jobs – like retail workers and GP receptionists – suffer regular abuse from customers and patients,” he adds.
He continues by saying “Sexual harassment and bullying have no place in modern workplaces.”
“Ministers promised to bring in long overdue new laws to prevent workplace sexual harassment and tackle abuse from third parties like customers and clients,” Nowak says.