Professional women doubt risk of harassment if they’re not victims, study shows
A MAJORITY of female professionals who haven’t experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace say they don’t believe it’s commonly happening, according to a survey of more than 5,000 workers released on Monday.
The study’s results show that many women are still afraid to report abuse, according to Elizabeth Alexander, a senior managing director in strategic communications at FTI Consulting.
“Women who haven’t seen it, or say it hasn’t happened to me, they don’t think it’s a problem,” Alexander said in an interview. That’s because those that did are keeping it to themselves, she said. “It’s this vicious cycle of under-reporting of what’s actually happening and it’s keeping it all still hidden from view.”
Business leaders, lawmakers and advocates have been grappling with how best to respond to the MeToo movement, which started in Hollywood and has unearthed harassment across the US corporate landscape. Since film producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexually harassing and assaulting dozens of actresses about a year ago, more than one new accusation has emerged, on average, each day, according to cases tracked by Bloomberg.
Actress Alyssa Milano kicked off the movement on Twitter a year ago when she asked women to share their experiences with the # MeToo hashtag. By the next day, more than 600,000 had responded.
The survey compiled responses from more than 4,700 women professionals and about 1,000 male counterparts. It was carried out from the end of May through mid- July.
Only about 10 per cent of women respondents said they weren’t specifically aware of the MeToo movement, and slightly fewer men, at nine per cent, said the same. This shows that awareness isn’t an issue, Alexander said. FTI conducted the survey with Mine the Gap, which advises companies on genderinclusive workplaces.
Businesses that don’t deal with harassment will pay a cost, she said. Once a company is associated with a public harassment accusation, a majority of men and women have a negative opinion of the company, the survey found.
About half of women, meanwhile, are less likely to apply for a job, or buy products or stock in the company.