More than one in five people have suffered some form ofworkplace violence or harassment around the world and almost half of the victims did not report it, according to a survey released today by the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO).
"Violence and harassment at work are widespread around the world," summarises this survey jointly conducted by the ILO, the Lloyd's Register Foundation and polling firm Gallup. It is the first attempt to examine this phenomenon on a global scale.
"More than one in five workers (22.8% or 743 million people) have experienced some form of violence or harassment at work at least once during their careers," based on data collected last year. Almost a third (31.8%) of victims said they suffered more than one form of violence or harassment and 6.3% suffered three (physical, psychological and sexual).
Taboos lead to silence
What was most striking to Manuela Tomei, the ILO's Deputy Director General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue, however, is that fewer than 55% spoke out about their suffering. This finding "may reflect the fact that in many cases we are not dealing with a taboo subject but that victims feel shame and guilt because they may believe that in some way they have lost the respect of others because of their behaviour," she explained in her press conference.
This survey was conducted mainly by telephone among a sample of 75,000 workers from 121 countries. The discussions were conducted in a way that covered the different perceptions in the world of what constitutes violence or harassment.
In China, where it was necessary to obtain permission from the authorities, some questions were not asked at all. In other countries, the authorities asked that the questions be "adapted" to local cultural sensitivities, a Gallup official explained.
Psychological violence is the most common form and affects 17.9% of men and women - or 583 million people - in their working lives. This is followed by physical violence, which is experienced by 8.% (277 million people).
The survey shows that men are more likely to report such behaviour than women.
Sexual violence
About one in 15 workers (6.3% or 205 million people) experience sexual violence and harassment, and not surprisingly, most victims are women. Of the three forms of violence examined, this is where the gender gap is most pronounced: over 8% of women experience it, compared to 5% of men.
"Young women are twice as likely as young men to suffer sexual violence or harassment," and "migrant women are twice as likely as native women to be victims," the report says.
Women are also more likely to suffer psychological violence while men are usually victims of physical violence. "Young people, migrants and wage earners" are more likely to experience physical or psychological violence.
In addition, "people who at some point in their lives have been discriminated against because of their gender, disability, ethnicity, skin colour or religion" are also more likely to experience some form of violence in the workplace.
APPE-AFP
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source[/URL]
