Poll Finds Widespread Claims of Sexual Harassment in Workplace

Almost a third of all working women say they have been sexually harassed--by men who tend to be in more senior positions--according to a Harris poll to be released today.

The nationwide survey also found that 7% of male workers said they were sexually harassed, most often by women.

Most of the victims took no action, the poll showed.

“The survey provides evidence that sexual harassment at work is widespread, if not pervasive,” said Louis Harris & Associates Inc., which conducted the telephone survey of 782 full-time and part-time employees between Feb. 2 and 6.

Of those polled, 18% said they had been sexually harassed at work.

Younger workers are more likely to report such incidents, which happen more often to black and Latino workers.

However, 63% said they believed their workplaces to be free of such problems.

Of those who have had problems, just 4% said there is “a lot” of sexual harassment at work; 15% believed there is “some, but not a lot;” 17% believed there is “a little” harassment.

Supervisors were responsible for 38% of the incidents of sexual harassment; other senior workers accounted for 25% of them. Equals in the workplace were blamed for 15% of all the cases; juniors 10%.

Women were blamed by 59% of the men who said they had been sexually harassed. For all the widespread acknowledgment of the problem, the poll said just 39% of the women and 32% of the men took any action. The Harris poll has a margin of error of 3%.