If you’re facing sexual harassment at work, you may be wondering what to do, and you’re certainly not alone. This is a topic that many people experience, though a large percentage of them never talk about it openly. As such, it’s important to break down some of the key facts. They can help to show why this keeps happening.
It’s incredibly common
First off, even if you’ve never had anyone confide in you that they’ve been harassed, you probably know people who have. It happens to both men and women. When considering women, who see it more often, studies have found that about 40% of them have experienced this type of harassment at work.
A lot of people stay silent
One reason that more isn’t done to stop sexual harassment is that most people don’t say anything. It’s been reported that “less than a quarter” of women file formal reports. If you wonder why, the next key fact will make it abundantly clear.
Retaliation happens often
The issue is that many of the women who do file reports have employers who retaliate against them. This could include firing them, demoting them, cutting their pay, giving them unfavorable work or refusing to consider them for promotions, among other things. When you ask those who stay silent why they do it, they often cite fear of losing a job, and this unfortunately shows that exactly that does happen.
The good news is that harassment is illegal and so is retaliation. The law is on your side. If this has happened to you, it’s time to find out what legal options you have.
