Estimates of those harassed fluctuate

Accounts of sexual harassment and assault have toppled man after man in workplace after workplace as the MeToo movement has taken hold, but quantifying its scope has often proved elusive or politically charged.

A national online survey conducted in January seeking a comprehensive picture reported that 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men said they had experienced sexual harassment or assault over their lifetimes — higher than most other studies and polls have suggested.

Compared with several past studies, this survey asked about a broader range of behaviors in multiple locations over a longer time span: on the street and public spaces, in workplaces and schools, online and in homes, said its principal author, Holly Kearl, a founder of Stop Street Harassment.

The largest continuing study available to date, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, focuses on physical more than verbal harassment. It reported that 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced sexual violence other than rape during their lifetime; 1 in 5 women and 1 in 67 men reported rapes or attempted rapes.

Another recent poll, from The Washington Post/ABC News, which reported that more than half of American women had experienced ‘‘unwanted sexual advances,’’ used a broader catchall term rather than specific behaviors and so probably found lower numbers, said Anita Raj, director of the University of California, San Diego, Center on Gender Equity and Health, who analyzed the latest data. Researchers have generally found that studies that ask about specific behaviors or that cover longer periods of time tend to report more harassment.

Several other recent polls either limited their questions to workplace harassment or assault, or sampled a smaller segment of the population, Raj said.

This latest survey asked 1,000 women and 1,000 men about verbal harassment, sexual touching, cybersexual harassment, being followed on the street, genital flashing and sexual assault.