Workplace Abuse 119 Survey of 1,000 Employees
Both Sexual Harassment and Assault Increased Compared to Last Year's Survey
One in four workers in our country has experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a survey. Additionally, 15 out of 100 respondents said they had experienced sexual assault or rape at work.
Photo by Getty Images Bank
On the 8th, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced the results of a survey on 'Experiences of Sexual Crimes in the Workplace,' conducted by the public opinion research firm Global Research from May 31 to June 10. The survey targeted 1,000 workers nationwide aged 19 and older. The results showed that 22.6% of respondents answered 'yes' to the question, 'Have you ever experienced sexual harassment in the workplace since starting your career?' Among female respondents, 26.1% answered 'yes,' which was 7 percentage points higher than males (19.1%).
Regarding the timing of the sexual harassment experience, 25.2% answered 'within the last 1 to 3 years,' the highest proportion, followed by 'within the last year' and 'within 3 to 5 years,' at 20.8% and 16.4%, respectively. The perpetrators of sexual harassment were most often 'supervisors who are not executives' (40.7%), followed by 'employers' (23.5%) and 'colleagues of similar rank' (17.7%). Additionally, 15% of respondents said they had contemplated self-harm or death after experiencing sexual harassment at work.
15.1% of respondents reported having experienced sexual assault or rape in the workplace. The rate of sexual assault or rape experience was higher among women (19.7%) than men (10.6%), and higher among non-regular workers (20.8%) than regular workers (11.3%). Regarding the timing of the last sexual assault or rape experience, 19.2% said 'within the last year,' and 24.5% said 'within the last 1 to 3 years,' revealing that 43.7% of victims experienced the incident within the past three years. More than half (54.3%) described the level of sexual assault or rape as 'severe.' Among these, female respondents (58.2%) and non-regular workers (61.4%) reported higher rates than male respondents (41.8%) and regular workers (45.6%).
Regarding experiences of stalking in the workplace, 10.6% of respondents answered 'yes.' The most common perpetrators of stalking were 'supervisors who are not executives' (34.9%), followed by 'colleagues of similar rank' (20.2%).
The organization stated that compared to the same survey conducted last August, when narrowing the victimization period to 'within one year,' sexual harassment increased from 14.2% to 20.8%, and sexual assault and rape increased from 13.8% to 20.8%. They also analyzed that sexual crimes in the workplace are 'gender-based violence' caused by unequal gender power relations.
Kim Se-jung, a labor attorney at Workplace Bullying 119, emphasized, "Although laws and systems to prevent gender-based violence have been established or improved within the past year, it has become clear that there is no significant effect. It is difficult to change reality through legal and institutional improvements alone, so to prevent sexual crimes in the workplace, changes in organizational culture and the awareness of each member of the organization are necessary."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
