Recent revelations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual assault have ignited meaningful discussions about the prevalence of sexual harassment is in the workplace. All over the country, women are posting under the hashtag #MeToo, sharing personal stories about their experiences as victims of sexual mistreatment.
Unfortunately, they have much to share: according to data from Comparably, 26% of women say they have been sexually harassed at work. The rate is slightly higher in tech, at 28%.
The highest rates by department
Drilling deeper into the tech world, Comparably found that 33% of women in IT at tech companies say they have been sexually harassed, the highest rate of any department. Women in business development, operations, and product reported the next highest rates, at 32%, 31%, and 31% respectively. Sexual harassment rates for men, while at 7% overall, appeared to be prevalent in certain sectors as well: 20% of men in legal roles and 17% in administrative roles reported having been sexually harassed.
Rates of sexual harassment by age
Sixteen percent of men and women aged 56 to 65 reported having ever been sexually harassed at work, compared to the approximately 13% averaged by men and women aged 18 to 50. (Note: These rates reflect both women and men, though women are the overwhelming majority; men on average report sexual harassment at a rate of 7%.)
Sexual harassment rates appears to decline the longer a person spent at one particular company.
Rates for workers just starting out at their company were at 17%; rates for workers with a decade or more of experience at their company were at 11%.
African American and Hispanic/Latino workers reported the highest rates of facing sexual harassment, at 19% and 17%, respectively.
Rates of sexual harassment were reported at 14% among Caucasians and 7% among Asians and Pacific Islanders.
The latest figures are as of October 2017 with data from more than 22,000 responses from employees across the tech sector.
