Half of women in UK have been sexually harassed at work, study finds

Polling of 1,553 women found 52% experienced unwanted behaviour at work including groping, sexual advances and inappropriate jokes

More than half of women have suffered sexual harassment in the workplace, including sexual assaults and comments about their bodies, research has found. Researchers from the Trades Union Congress and the Everyday Sexism Project found that 52% of women had experienced unwanted behaviour at work including groping, sexual advances and inappropriate jokes.

Among women and girls aged 16-24, the proportion reporting sexual harassment rose to 63%. Around one in eight women reported unwanted sexual touching of their breasts, buttocks or genitals or attempts to kiss them at work, which the report’s authors point out would be considered sexual assault under the law. And 1% said they had been raped or seriously sexually assaulted in their workplace. Almost a fifth said they had been harassed by their boss or someone else with authority over them. But four in five women said they did not report the incidents to their employers, with many fearing that it would harm their relationships at work or that they would not be taken seriously.

The findings, described by the TUC as the biggest study of its kind for a generation, are published in a report today: "Still Just a Bit of Banter?"

One woman described how a colleague said on her last day “his biggest regret was that he didn’t get the chance to rape me in the store room before I left”. She had been afraid to go in there for months because of the man’s previous comments, she said. Another woman told the researchers: “The most senior person in the organisation made a series of ‘jokes’ ... about how I might want to give my boss a ‘rub down’ or a ‘massage’. Another director gestured to grab my breasts at a social gathering.”

Protection from sexual harassment can be found in this TUC booklet: Protection - Know Your Rights booklet