Germany: Dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace

November 12, 2019

Extent and perpetrators of sexual harassment at the workplace

Approximately one in eleven gainfully employed persons has been affected by sexual harassment at the workplace within the last three years. With 13%, women are clearly more often affected than men with 5%.
82% of all persons concerned stated that the perpetrators were exclusively or predominantly male. This was almost always the case for female persons affected (98%). 39% of male persons affected reported the same, 16% named both sexes as perpetrators and 46% indicated that exclusively or predominantly female persons harassed them.
Most persons affected (53%) experienced sexual harassment at the workplace from clients, customers and patients, which women reported more often (57%) than men (40%).
43% of the perpetrators were co-workers, while 19% of the harassment cases were initiated by superiors and 10% by persons in lower positions.

Generally, sexual harassment varies in type and severity. Thus, verbal harassment such as sexual comments (62%) or other types of harassment such as suggestive eye contact and gestures (44%) occurs most frequently. More than one quarter of the affected persons (26%) reported unwanted touches or approaches. Unwanted showing of sexual pictures and videos (14%), unwanted requests for sexual acts (11%), suggestive messages (9%) or unwanted exhibitionism (5%) are other relevant types of sexual harassment. However, blackmail, coercion or compulsion to sexual acts (1%) occur quite rarely.
In many cases, an act of harassment is not committed only once, but rather most acts of harassment are committed repeatedly.
Every one in three to four affected persons felt moderately to severely threatened or at the mercy of the perpetrator or helpless because of the respective acts. One in two or one in three affected persons claim a moderate to very strong feeling of shame, humiliation and degradation as well as the psychological strain caused by the situation(s).
Sexual harassment at the workplace harms individuals and companies. People affected by sexual harassment at the workplace have a distinctly lower job satisfaction, partly suffer from more health impairments and even rate the relationship to their superiors as less positive than people who are not affected.

There is a high risk of sexual harassment in all sectors. As far as this was possible given the low number of cases, the present study shed more light on certain sectors. According to the study, the sectors most affected are health and social services (29%), manufacturing (11%), trade (12%), transport (6%), water and energy supply as well as childcare and education (10%t).
Most cases of sexual harassment (34%) were found in service occupations which require customer contact. The perpetrators are mostly clients, customers or patients.
There is also an increased risk for female executive staff (22%), for women in academic professions (14%) as well as for women in technical or typically male professions (13%).