The report from CARE had some rather shocking statistics
Almost one quarter of men believe it’s sometimes or always acceptable for an employer to ask or expect one of their workers to have “intimate interactions” with them, according to a new report from organization CARE.
After surveying adults in Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, India, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom and Vietnam, the study found that 23% of men asked, believe it’s okay for an employer to expect an employee to have sex with them.
The figure was allegedly highest in Egypt, where 62% of men agreed with the statement. The report shed light on disparities between what men and women believe to be acceptable at work, with 44% of US men, aged between 18-34, thinking it’s fine to sometimes or always tell a sexual joke to a colleague. Just 22% of women agreed.
“Being expected to have sex with your employer -- that's not a job description, it's sexual abuse," added Michelle Nunn, CARE's president and CEO. "And it speaks to the global epidemic of harassment and abuse in our workplaces."
“The immediate impact of the #MeToo movement inspires us,” Nunn said. “But the long-term test is not whether it brings down dozens of powerful men in the United States, but whether it lifts up millions of women around the world. And this survey tells us that women aren’t just hoping #MeToo will spark real change –- they’re expecting it.”
In the UK, 35% of 25-34-year-olds think it’s okay to pinch a co-worker’s bum, in jest. Whereas in India, 33% of all adults think it’s sometimes or always acceptable to cat-call a colleague. Furthermore, 52% of men think it’s sometimes or always fine to rank their colleagues based on looks – whilst 35% of women agree.
Across all eight countries, the report found that 32% of females who worked claimed to have suffered sexual harassment, with the figure being 21% for their male counterparts.
“We still have such a long way to go in stamping out sexual harassment and abuse globally,” Nunn added, “whether it’s inside office buildings in the U.S., factories in India or the often-overlooked workplaces of housekeepers and caretakers in Latin America.”
The online survey was conducted by Harris Poll, interviewing 9,408 adults aged 18+.