Sexual harassment widespread at work
Commissioned by TUC Cymru, the body for trade unions in Wales, the survey gathered responses from 2,000 employees across the country. It found that 43% of men and 48% of women had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.The highest rate was recorded in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, where 66% of respondents reported incidents.Of those who had experienced harassment, around half did not report it.One in ten said this was because they did not trust their employer to believe them.
Ms Stevens said the man would often put his arm around her "when there just wasn't any need to.""I asked him to stop, and he did for a while - but then he'd start again," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."I kept asking, but he kept crossing the boundary."Although she reported his behaviour to management, she said they "just didn't particularly care", dismissing it as the man "just being friendly".Regardless of his intent, Ms Stevens said it made her feel uncomfortable and "really unsupported"."He crossed my boundaries, and I just felt really uncared for," she added.Ms Stevens eventually changed departments to "just to get myself out of the situation at the time". "You're so young, you're naïve," she said."You feel embarrassed, you don't really want to stand up for yourself and call people out on it because you don't want to make a fuss."
Under the Worker Protection Act, employers must discipline or hold accountable those who are found guilty of sexual harassment.The law, which was introduced in October 2024, covers harassment on social media as well as that by customers, clients, service users, or members of the public.This also includes conduct in any event or situation related to work such as a Christmas party, client event, or messaging between colleagues.Of the survey respondents, one in 10 said their workplace either had no formal sexual harassment policy or they were not informed of a policy in place.
Ms Stevens, who is trained in the issue, said her own experiences have made her "even more passionate about ensuring everyone is safe at work at all times".She explained that many people do not realise their behaviour is inappropriate, but once it's pointed out, most stop - but she said repeated behaviour should be addressed more seriously.Ms Stevens emphasised the importance of education and urged anyone affected to speak to their union rep, saying: "We're here, we will listen, and we will act."
To raise awareness around support available to workers from unions around sexual harassment in the workplace, TUC Cymru has launched a campaign, called We'll Support You.The organisation has also published a handbook to give union reps the information and resources they need to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.Shavanah Taj from TUC Cymru said "everyone deserves to feel safe at work" and that workplace sexual harassment "has to stop".She said the new campaign will empower union reps to be a "visible ally" for workers, hold employers accountable under the new Worker Protection Act, and "ultimately help reduce harassment in workplaces in Wales".
What is sexual harassment?
According to Wesh Women's Aid, sexual harassment is any unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature that may cause offense, distress, will intimidate or humiliate a person.Some examples are: making sexually degrading comments or gesturesbeing stared or leered atunwanted or inappropriate sexual jokes or propositionse-mails, social media or text messages with sexual contentunwelcome sexual advances and touching, forms of sexual assaultdisplaying sexually explicit pictures in a shared space, such as at work
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