One in five women has experienced sexual harassment at work in China, a survey has found.
The poll found that 20 per cent of the 1,837 participants from 10 enterprises in Guangdong, Jiangsu and Hebei provinces and Beijing had been sexual harassment victims.
The definition of sexual harassment included leering, getting inappropriately close, sending text messages or e-mails with sexual content, improper behaviour such as obscene gestures or flashing, kissing, hugging and even rape.
The survey was released by Women’s Watch China, a Beijing-based non-profit organisation.
Despite the huge number of victims, most chose to stay silent or leave their jobs instead of reporting them or taking legal action against their attackers.
Only 45.6 per cent of those who were victimised took issue with their harassers and just 34.3 per cent reported the person to managers.
Fewer than 20 per cent called police or took civil legal action.
Many victims did not report the incidents because they worried about the negative fallout from doing so, such as being the target of gossip.
“A lot of female victims choose to be silent because they are afraid of losing their jobs, especially when the harasser is their boss or a superior,” said Chen Wei, a lawyer specialising in women’s issues.
“Even though some victims are brave enough to seek legal help, they realise it’s difficult to collect evidence because the harassment usually happens behind closed doors.”
With chinadaily.com.cn input
