This Is the Group Most Likely to Be Harassed at Work, Study Finds

This Is the Group Most Likely to Be Harassed at Work, Study Finds Sexual harassment in the workplace is a pervasive problem plaguing workplaces across all industries, not just in Silicon Valley or Hollywood. A recent poll of over 200,000 workers by Comparably revealed that 26 percent of women say theyve been sexually harassed at work and young black women get the brunt of all types of harassment. But their voices are largely left unheard.The Comparably poll found that a notable 33 percent of female executives and engineers, 28 percent of women in tech and 34 percent of women in IT say theyve been sexually harassed at work. In fact, 61 percent of women in IT say that being a woman has even held them back in their careers.When it comes to verbal abuse and non-sexual harassment from bosses, both women (24 percent) and men (21 percent) say theyve been harassed 30 percent of all workers between 18 and 25 years old experience this type of harassment from higher-ups, but the biggest victi ms are women in communications (40 percent) and men in finance (35 percent).For workers of color, however, harassment hits harder. According to the Comparably poll, 23 percent of African-Americans say they have been sexually harassed at work, followed by 20 percent of Latinx workers. Thirty-three percent of African-Americans reported verbal abuse or non-sexual harassment from bosses, too.This is nothing new, though. A 2009studypublished in theJournal of Interpersonal Violencefound that minorities experience the highest levels of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, andanother paperfound that black women are more likely to report post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms than their white peers following harassment and assault.For example, according to the Center for American Progress, industries that disproportionately employ women of color in low-wage jobs report some of thehighest levelsof sexual harassment. A2016 study on workplace harassment in the fast food industrythat 33 percent of black women and 32 percent of Latinas in fast-food restaurants experience sexual harassment, compared to 25 percent of white women. Likewise, according to a 2008 study, home healthcare workers, who areheavily women of color, aresubject to exploitation (like assault and rape) and instability. But women of color and recent immigrants often find reporting abuse or seeking legal protection too risky.Of course, sharing these statistics is not to discount the experiences of white women rather, its to exemplify just how much women of color are adversely affected. Their experiences have been largely left out of the conversation surrounding workplace harassment, despite mounting evidence that they face disproportionately high levels of sexual violence in general.They have been relegated to the sidelines, but intersectional feminism is the missing ingredient we need to create change.Though the MeToo movement has made clear the insidiousness and prevalence of sexual harassment a nd assault, it has also been centered mostly on the experiences of white, affluent, and educated women, explained The Atlantic writer Gillian White in her aptly titled piece, The Glaring Blind Spot of the honigwein Too Movement.The Nation writer Collier Meyersonalso begged the question, Can we all say MeToo? Meyerson explained that missing from the bulk of the conversations around rape culture are all people on the margins women of color, poor women, undocumented women and trans men and women who are uniquely impacted by sexual assault and harassment. She wrote, To effectively combat sexual harassment, we must understand how a survivors identity shapes his or her ability to tell a boss, sue a company, or even join the hashtag MeToo.More recently, Vox writer P.R. Lockhart has pointed out that women of color shaped sexual harassment policy, and now theyre more likely to slip through its cracks. In fact, MeToo was started by a black woman a decade ago. Activist and founder of youth or ganization Just Be Inc., Tarana Burke, launched the movement as a way to connect with survivors. Alas, after actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a call-out for followers to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault using MeToo, manymedia outletscreditedher for originatingthe movement.Lockhart warned, Seeking systemic change in how we absprache with workplace sexual harassment without acknowledging these groups threatens to keep progress limited to a subset of women, perpetuating a system in which minorities, especially poor women of color, are left without many options.Fortunately, despite their experiences, the majority of women that Comparably surveyed (63 percent) believe the TimesUp movement will lead to progress in the workplace.Sixty-five percent of African-Americans of all genders and 68 percent of Latinx workers agree that times are changing.--AnnaMarie Houlis is a multimedia journalist and an adventure aficionado with a keen cultural curiosity and an affinity for solot ravel. Shes an editor by day and a travel blogger at HerReport.org by night.