More than half of women 'have suffered sexual harassment at work'

More than half of women have experienced forms of sexual harassment at work including unwelcome jokes, inappropriate touching and suggestive remarks, new research reveals.

The level of sexual harassment in the workplace is "shameful", with women even being subjected demands for sexual favours, according to a report by the Trades Union Congress and the Everyday Sexism Project.

The TUC said its study showed that the problem was worse for younger women, with almost two-thirds of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they have suffered sexual harassment at work.

A survey of 1,500 women found that a third had been subjected to unwelcome jokes, while one in four received sex-related comments about their body or clothes.

One in four had been touched and one in eight said someone had tried to kiss them.

The TUC said sexual harassment at work took many forms, from suggestive remarks, jokes about a colleague's sex life and circulating pornography, to inappropriate touching, hugging or kissing, or demands for sexual favours.

In most cases, the perpetrator was male, with nearly one in five women saying it was their line manager, or someone with direct authority over them.

Four out of five women who said they experienced sexual harassment at work did not tell their employer, fearing it would affect their relationships at work, hit their career prospects or they were too embarrassed to talk about it.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "How many times do we still hear that sexual harassment in the workplace is just a bit of 'banter'?

"Sexual harassment is undermining, humiliating and can have a huge effect on mental health. Victims are often left feeling ashamed and frightened. It has no place in a modern workplace, or in wider society.