One in five experience harassment and violence at work

Violence and harassment at work is, tragically, nothing new. But because it often plays out in the shadows and behind closed doors, the extent and nature of violence and harassment in the workplace is hard to measure.

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation, with the help of Gallup, has looked to change this by surveying 125,000 people worldwide about their experience at work.

The resulting report – the World Risk Poll – found that 21% have experienced workplace harassment or violence – almost three in five of these have experienced violence or harassment more than once.

The most common form of discrimination was psychological (16.5%), following by physical (7.4%) and sexual (5.8%). 61% had experienced psychological discrimination three or more times during their working lives.

Interestingly, the report found that men were slightly more likely to note violence or harassment than women – 22% versus 20%. But the types of harassment or violence differed between genders.

However, a third of women surveyed said there was a sexual element to the discrimination or violence they experienced, compared to only 15% for men. Instead, men were more likely to experience physical violence or harassment at work.

The research also broke the findings down by regions and countries. The ten countries with the highest reported violence and harassment were all high income countries.

At the top of the list were Australia, Finland, Iceland and New Zealand. The US came in sixth, while Canada was 8^th and Sweden was 10^th.

How to turn the tide of workplace harassment

Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s director of evidence and insight Dr Sarah Cumbers tells UNLEASH findings like “men report experiencing a similar level of workplace violence and harassment to women globally, or the high figures recorded in Nordic countries, which are often seen as at the forefront of social progress” may seem surprising.

But “context is everything, and HR leaders can draw valuable lessons by looking not only at the ‘who’, but also at the ‘what’.”

Then the preventative work can start. This work must involve employers and HR leaders re-examining their policies and procedures – it is crucial that these are clear and transparent and when workers report harassment or violence that action is taken (including that the individuals responsible face serious consequences).

The issue at the moment, according to Dr Cumber, is that many workers who want to speak up don’t think it will make a difference. Therefore, organizations need to take a “‘zero tolerance approach to incidents”.

In addition,  given the differing nature of harassment and violence that different demographics experience, Dr Cumber is clear “there’s no ‘one-size fits all’ blanket policy”.

Now is the time to act. Employees have made it very clear that they want to work for diverse, inclusive and equitable employers – in the ‘Great Resignation’ and beyond. There is no room for harassment or violence in these gold standard workplaces.

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