"'You Like Me, Right?' Harassment if Rejected... Workplace 'Courtship Power Abuse'"

Citizen Group Workplace Gapjil 119 Survey
11% of Workers "Received Unwanted Advances"

A, who works at a small and medium-sized enterprise, received a message from the company CEO saying, "Let's have a meal together just the two of us this weekend." He replied, "Let's meet with other employees as well." The CEO then expressed disappointment, saying, "Is there a big problem if we meet separately?"

Afterwards, A did not respond to the CEO's messages unrelated to work. The CEO said, "Not responding to messages outside of work hours is poor work attitude," and added, "You should be careful from now on."

A survey found that one out of nine office workers has experienced persistent unwanted advances from someone at work.

The civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced on the 12th that, according to a survey conducted from October 14 to 21 last year targeting 1,000 office workers, 11.0% of respondents said they had such experiences. The above case was actually reported to Workplace Bullying 119.

Among 32 reports received by the 'Workplace Gender Violence Reporting Center' operated by Workplace Bullying 119 from September 14 last year to the 10th of this month, 'coercive advances' accounted for 8 cases (25.0%), the highest number. All victims were women.

There were many cases where expressing discomfort to a 'persistent superior' or refusing private meetings led to rumors, workplace harassment, and eventually quitting the company.

B reported, "After drinking, my boss said, 'Do you like me?' and told others that I was the one who seduced him first," adding, "Since I had to keep working, I smiled and told him not to do that, but when I didn’t show any other reaction, he probably thought I was easy and even tried to touch me."

B said, "After work, he made strange comments over the phone, and when I didn’t respond, he said, 'Since you rejected me, prepare to work harshly and be scolded from tomorrow,'" and added, "I don’t have the confidence to continue working, so I’m planning to quit the company."

[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

The organization believes that banning romantic relationships between superiors and subordinates could be one solution to prevent 'advancement abuse' occurring within workplace hierarchies.

In another survey asking about unwanted advances, 79.8% of office workers agreed with employment rules that prohibit workplace dating using a superior’s position.

Workplace Bullying 119 emphasized that unwanted advances in the workplace are highly likely to develop into stalking, and employers should check whether 'advancement abuse' is occurring and take measures by recognizing it as workplace harassment.

Kim Se-jung, a labor attorney at Workplace Bullying 119, said, "While recognizing female colleagues as equal subjects, there needs to be a social evaluation that unwanted advances are not romantic but 'advancement abuse.'"