Almost half of women harassed at work were sexually assaulted, advice line reveals

Almost half of women who are sexually harassed in the workplace are also sexually assaulted, new data from a leading advice line reveals.

Rights of Women, a charity which provides free legal advice for women who have suffered sexual harassment at work, warned victims are treated with “systemic sexism and discrimination”.

Almost two in three callers experienced further discrimination, retaliation and even punishment from their employer after suffering and or reporting sexual harassment.

Two thirds of callers had endured multiple incidents of sexual harassment – with campaigners saying this demonstrates most women who suffer sexual harassment do so on a “continuous and sustained basis”.

Lina, a woman who contacted the telephone advice line after being subjected to sexual harassment, said: “I felt I had no choice, he’s my boss, I didn’t want to lose my job. He didn’t ask if he could touch my breasts, he just did it.

“He didn’t like when I said no, he was hostile and became really aggressive. He spread malicious rumours about me at work, trying to ruin my reputation. I felt I was being punished for saying no and had to find a way to rescue the working relationship. I’m a foreigner, as well, so I feel I have to work extra hard just to be included.

“He let people say racist things to me, without any consequence. I was called a criminal for the way I look; told I wasn’t British even though I have a passport. He denied everything, and when confronted with the texts he’d sent me he said we’d had a consensual relationship. There was no consensual relationship; he had tried to have sex with me and then punished me for saying no.”

She said she had developed social anxiety due to the ordeal and has now been signed off sick from work.

The new data showed 31 per cent of women who reported sexual harassment in the workplace faced a failure by their employer to properly investigate the incident, while 17 per cent said they were bullied.

One in five callers had been dismissed or stepped down from their jobs as a direct consequence of the sexual harassment they endured. Some two per cent of callers said they had been raped and three per cent said their coworkers had stalked them.

Over a third had suffered additional racial harassment or discrimination after reporting sexual harassment.

Campaigners, who are doubling the amount of time the advice line is open, argue the protections drawn up in the Equality Act 2010 are not strong enough to tackle the “culture of sexual harassment” in the workplace – calling for a “mandatory preventative duty” for employers.

Deeba Syed, senior legal officer at Rights of Women, said: “One year on since the launch of our advice line, the statistics have confirmed our worst fears since the #MeToo revelations. We finally have a clearer picture of how women are experiencing systematic sexual abuse and discrimination in the workplace.

“Our data exposes the extent of the harm women are experiencing. We can no longer minimise the truth: victims of sexual harassment are systematically discriminated against. Women are disbelieved, discredited, and treated with hostility and suspicion. This is not just happening to women working in the Houses of Parliament, this is happening to women across the workforce.

“Sexism is so deeply entrenched in our workplaces that women who do report sexual harassment and abuse are frequently labelled as emotional and over-sensitive by their employers. Worse still, our callers tell us they are treated as the problem. They are routinely dismissed, bullied, and blamed for the harassment. They are pushed out of their jobs, not the perpetrators.”

Ms Syed argued employers are ignoring their legal responsibility to stop and protect women from sexual harassment at work – adding the legal framework for complaints is “not fit-for-purpose and disadvantages women”.

She said if pledges to overhaul how women are treated in light of the MeToo movement are to be more than mere “lip service”, the UK requires “urgent legislative progress”.

The fresh data comes after a recent study found employers are urging women to dress “sexier” and wear make-up during video calls in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.