More than a quarter of women have been harassed at work and more than half of employees think companies need to do more to help their workers feel safe, damning new research has found
More than a quarter of women have been victims of harassment at work with one in seven suffering unwanted sexual behaviour, shocking new research reveals.
New statistics have uncovered a worrying epidemic of threatening behaviour in the workplace, with 27% of women and 16% of men experiencing harassment at work in the last five years.
Alarmingly, 14% experienced sexual harassment, while 16% have even considered leaving their jobs due to their workplace ordeals.
More than half of employees (51%) felt companies needed to do more to help employers feel safer at work, with 82% saying they would find the ability to report crime or community issues around their workplace vital.
It comes as firms in the UK seek to find extra ways to prevent harassment and create safer environments to keep in line with the new Workers’ Protection Act.
Now personal safety app WalkSafe – who carried out the survey of 2,000 workers with pollsters Opinium – has launched a new ‘anonymous check in’ tool to help HR teams tackle workplace harassment before it escalates.
The new discreet reporting feature, called WalkSafe Pro Prevent, gives employees a safe way to raise concerns early, helping companies protect staff, prevent scandals, and avoid costly lawsuits.
Emma Kay, founder of WalkSafe, which came to prominence in the wake of Sarah Everard’s death in 2021, said: “This new research just shows that harassment in the workplace, especially for women, is at alarmingly high levels and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“Workers have a right to feel they can report harassment easily and without fear or judgement.
“Sadly, that is not the case for everyone. However, employers can do more to change that.”
Workers in Leeds were the most likely to face harassment at work with 34% saying they have been victims, followed by 32% in Edinburgh and 28% in Cardiff.
A tenth of employees and 13% of women who faced harassment did not feel they were able to report it to their bosses.
The findings revealed that half of workers (51%) would feel safer with an anonymous reporting system at work, and more than 84% would welcome a safety app to report unwanted harassment—rising to 89% among employees under 34 years old.
It comes after the National Police Chief’s Council declared an ‘epidemic scale’ of violence against women and girls (VAWG) with a 37% increase in VAWG-related crimes in five years.
The research also suggests many are not even reporting their concerns. Over one in ten have wanted to alert a manager to the fact they have been harassed, but not have bothered – and 9% didn’t report sexual harassment because they didn’t think they would be believed.
Unsurprisingly, 51% of UK workers would like an anonymous reporting system to alert the business to unwanted behaviour, and 54% would be more likely to report inappropriate behaviour in the workplace if they could do soo anonymously.
Over one in ten (13%) have left a job in the past because of inappropriate behaviour from a colleague at that job – often involving senior colleagues or fellow team members.
Four-fifths (84%) of workers would find an app that allows them to anonymously share concerns about inappropriate behaviour in the workplace valuable.
In response, WalkSafe is launching an anonymous reporting tool on the app, which allows employees to report sexual harassment or bullying without fear of reprisal or their career prospects being damaged.
It will also protect employees while commuting, during after-work drinks or at workplace events.
Emma added: “WalkSafe Pro Prevent helps companies comply with the recent Workers Protection Legislation, and is a valuable benefit for employees, building a strong company culture with a reputation for prioritising wellbeing and employee safety.
“WalkSafe Pro gives HR managers and companies an early warning of developing harassment issues at work so they can deal with them before they escalate into formal complaints, avoiding negative PR and lawsuits.”
The WalkSafe app – founded in 2020 – is a free personal safety app that helps users feel safer when out and about – particularly as the nights get darker – with information on crime in the area from police and councils.
The app, which now has had more than one million downloads and is in 35 cities and towns across the world, saw downloads soar from 2,000 to 300,000 in the week after Sarah Everard was brutally murdered on her way home in Clapham, south London in March 2021.
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