research paper on workplace harassment

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The impact of workplace harassment on health in a working cohort.

• 1 Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
• 2 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States

Background: Workplace abuse, including sexual harassment, is frequently experienced worldwide and is related to adverse mental health outcomes, and injuries. Flight attendants are an understudied occupational group and are susceptible to harassment due to working in a feminized, client-facing occupation with few protections or sanctioned responses against aggressive behaviors.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between workplace abuse and health in a cohort of cabin crew. We also aimed to characterize perpetrator profiles.

Methods: We conducted our study among 4,459U.S. and Canada-based participants from the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study using multivariate logistic regression. Our exposures of interest were episodes of workplace abuse in the past year. We evaluated several mental and physical health outcomes, including depression, fatigue, musculoskeletal injuries, and general workplace injuries.

Results: We report that exposures to verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault are common among cabin crew, with 63, 26, and 2% of respondents, respectively, reporting harassment in the past year alone. Workplace abuse was associated with depression, sleep disturbances, and musculoskeletal injuries among male and female crew, with a trend toward increasing odds ratios (ORs) given a higher frequency of events. For example, sexual harassment was related to an increased odds for depression (OR = 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.51–2.30), which increased in a dose response-like manner among women reporting harassment once (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 0.93–1.95), 2–3 times (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.29–2.38), and 4 or more times (OR = 4.12, 95% CI: 3.18–5.06). We found that passengers were the primary perpetrators of abuse.

Conclusions: Our study is the first to comprehensively characterize workplace abuse and harassment and its relation to health in a largely female customer-facing workforce. The strong associations with health outcomes observed in our study highlights the question of how workplace policies can be altered to mitigate prevalent abuses. Clinicians could also consider how jobs with high emotional labor demands may predispose people to adverse health outcomes, educate patients regarding their psychological/physical responses and coping strategies, and be aware of signs of distress in patients working in such occupations in order to direct them to the appropriate treatments and therapies.

Introduction

Workplace harassment and abuse, especially against women, occur with great frequency worldwide ( Krieger et al., 2006 ). Estimates suggest that as many as 50% of U.S. women experience sexual harassment during their working lives ( Das, 2009 ), but only a minority report it ( Feldblum and Lipnic, 2016 ). Studies indicate that workplace abuse and stress are related to poorer mental health, including sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and symptoms, and psychological distress ( Gunnarsdottir et al., 2006 ; Nabe-Nielsen et al., 2016 ). This can be the case even for co-workers who are not directly victimized ( Di Marco et al., 2016 , 2018 ). Exposure to workplace stress has also been associated with increased musculoskeletal injuries and disorders and a higher cardiovascular risk score among flight logistic workers and flight attendants ( Lee et al., 2008 ; Lecca et al., 2018 ).

The systems that are currently in place have proven insufficient to prevent workplace abuse ( Fitzgerald, 1993 ; Okechukwu et al., 2014 ; Burke and Cooper, 2018 ). Victims are often left without support, within their job or from clinicians, while navigating the fallout of these experiences. Few studies have tracked the impact of workplace abuse on long-term health, although evidence suggests that sexual harassment early in the career has long-term effects on depressive symptoms, which in turn can affect quality of life, relationships, and professional attainment ( Houle et al., 2011 ). The effects of harassment on workers can also in turn hurt organizations by affecting worker morale, productivity, absenteeism, turnover, organizational commitment, as well as the external reputation of the employer ( McDonald et al., 2015 ).

Effective prevention rests on a detailed analysis of the current context of workplace harassment and abuse, including the characteristics of perpetrators, worker profiles (e.g., age, race, sexual orientation), and the timing of harassment. Prevention strategies include clearly stated company policies that provide workers and supervisors with proper training and sanctioned tools to respond to abuse and abusers ( Fitzgerald, 1993 ; Okechukwu et al., 2014 ; McDonald et al., 2015 ).

Flight attendants are an understudied occupational group exposed to a wide range of biological and psychosocial stressors, including cosmic ionizing radiation at altitude, severe circadian rhythm disruption, chemical contaminants in the aircraft cabin, hypoxia, noise, heavy physical, and psychological job demands, and verbal and sexual harassment ( Ballard et al., 2006 ; Griffiths and Powell, 2012 ). To our knowledge, our study is one of only a few to evaluate sexual harassment among flight attendants in relation to health and is the largest and most comprehensive study on this topic ( Ballard et al., 2006 ; Gunnarsdottir et al., 2006 ). Flight attendants are a susceptible occupational group due to employment in a mostly female profession with high emotional labor demands (i.e., they are expected to suppress and regulate their emotional affect and responses according to employer and passenger expectations; Grandey and Melloy, 2017 ). Yet, no specific policies are in place for them to navigate abusive workplace interactions. Other professions share similar characteristics, and findings from our cohort may therefore be generalizable to a much wider range of occupational groups.

We aim to characterize the health impact of workplace abuse and harassment among workers, as well as characterize the prevalence of harassment and perpetrator profiles (supervisor, passenger, etc.), within a large ongoing cohort of cabin crew ( McNeely et al., 2014 , 2018 ). We hypothesized that passengers would be the most frequent perpetrators of workplace abuse against crew, and that verbal and sexual abuse occurring within the past year would be related to depression as well as sleep disturbances and fatigue over the past 2 weeks and to workplace accidents and musculoskeletal injuries over the past year, especially among those workers experiencing a higher frequency of abusive events.

FAHS Cohort Recruitment and Survey

Cohort recruitment.

Participants were enrolled in the second wave of the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study (FAHS), an ongoing study established in 2007 with 4,011 participants ( McNeely et al., 2014 , 2018 ). For the 2014–2015 wave reported here, we recruited new and returning participants through several channels, including a hard copy survey mailed to the 2007 participants and an online survey launched in December 2014. We also conducted in-person recruitment at five U.S. airport hubs between December 2014 and June 2015, where we distributed postcards with the online survey URL and hardcopy surveys. Our campaign included email and flier announcements from local unions, as well as a study website and social media presence.

Current or former male and female U.S.- or Canada-based flight attendants were eligible to participate in the current survey, with no other eligibility criteria (beyond being an adult of at least 18 years of age, which is a requirement for being a flight attendant). In order to maximize the gender-stratified samples, no other exclusion criteria were used. We collected 1,642 surveys from returning participants, yielding a 40% response rate from the original cohort with valid addresses. While in 2007, the FAHS used paper surveys and found recruiting in-person at airport hubs to be most effective, in 2014 we switched to primarily online recruitment and questionnaires. We created a website for new and returning study participants to read about our research and to complete the questionnaire online as well as a social media campaign to provide participants with up-to-date news. In addition, we found that email blasts from flight attendant unions improved recruitment immensely. We continued passively collecting surveys until closing our online survey at the end of the sampling period.

Our mixed methods recruitment approach was similar to that used by recent high-profile studies, marking a shift toward accessible and adaptable online surveys formatted for smart phones and tablets, which give participants a secure, anonymous space to report on sensitive health topics, including sexual harassment ( van Gelder et al., 2010 ). Our research was approved the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Institutional Review Board. All participants provided their written informed consent prior to enrollment in the study.

Our survey was developed from numerous focus groups with flight attendants (which were arranged by a union to provide insight about the study questions from a larger Federal Aviation Administration study), and from validated questions about health outcomes and symptomology, work experiences and exposures, and demographic factors and personal characteristics taken from established surveys such as the Job Content Questionnaire and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ( Karasek et al., 1998 ; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013-2014 ). Specifically, the questions we used regarding workplace abuse and harassment were the same as those used by Nurses' Health Study (as described in more detail below); these and other questions from national surveys were selected in order to facilitate comparisons across study populations ( Bao et al., 2016 ). Participants were also asked to provide aviation employment history, including airlines, primary hubs, and dates of employment and leave. The survey includes 3 sections about each participant's job, personal characteristics, and health, with a total of approximately 100 questions (which varied depending on respondents' answers to questions with branching logic). The final survey instrument was tested in a sample of flight attendants before use in the 2007 study, and we further updated the survey in 2014 to account for feedback from participants enrolled in the original 2007 study and to refine our research interests based on earlier findings. For example, we included new questions on workplace harassment and as well as questions with finer detail for sleep outcomes and depression.

Exposures and Outcomes

To measure exposures to workplace abuse in the past year, we used the following questions adapted from the Nurses' Health Study III, a longitudinal cohort study of U.S. nurses ( Bao et al., 2016 ):

1. In the last 12 months, have you been sexually harassed at work (any type of unwelcome sexual behavior [words or actions] that creates a hostile work environment)?

2. In the last 12 months, have you been threatened or experienced verbal abuse at work (e.g., yelled at, shouted at, or sworn at)?

3. In the last 12 months, have you been sexually assaulted at work (someone used threat or force to engage in an unwanted sexual act)?

Because sexual harassment and workplace abuse tend to be vastly underreported through official channels, we used these self-reported measures of harassment and abuse in our study rather than drawing from organizational records or asking only about officially reported incidences of harassment ( Feldblum and Lipnic, 2016 ).

We asked participants about depressive symptoms in the past 2 weeks using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 scale, with depression based on a score of 10 or higher ( Kroenke et al., 2001 ). The PHQ-9 is a brief, validated instrument which has been shown to be reliable for diagnosing depressive disorders, as well as for determining depressive symptom severity, and is shorter and more straightforward than previous comparable measures. It is important that this instrument is validated, short, and straightforward, as depressive disorders are commonly encountered in primary care settings with limited time for assessment and follow-up, and it facilitates our measuring depression and depression severity accurately within a comprehensive study survey ( Kroenke et al., 2001 ). To examine associations with depression in our study, we dichotomized the depression variable using a threshold score of 10 (with 10 representing the lowest value for moderate depression). We also asked about sleep disturbances and fatigue symptoms in the past 2 weeks, and categorized responses into binary variables based on frequency of symptoms (with symptoms occurring “nearly every day” considered as a positive response). Finally, we queried participants about injuries or illnesses in the past 12 months that they considered to be work-related, and about specific musculoskeletal problems and injuries, including strains, sprains, joint pain, and fractures/contusions occurring in the past 12 months.

Analytic Sample and Statistical Analysis

Our analytic sample includes 4,549 participants who worked as cabin crew within the last year. Retired flight attendants and those who did not work in a cabin within the previous year were excluded because they would not have experienced exposure to workplace harassment as a flight attendant in the in the time frame relevant to our study. There were no exclusions based on any other factors, such as gender, age, or seniority; this allowed us to maximize the sample of flight attendants we were able to reach. For each analysis, participants with non-missing data on the abuse exposure, health outcome, and adjusting covariates were drawn from this sample. Sample sizes differed across analyses and are shown in the tables. We calculated descriptive statistics for participant characteristics, as well as for the prevalence of verbal abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault overall, by frequency of events in the past year, and by perpetrator type (supervisor/pilot, passenger, co-worker, and other—such as airport employees).

We then evaluated the association between verbal and sexual harassment or violence in the past 12 months (any vs. none) and depression, sleep disturbances and fatigue, work-related accidents and illnesses, and specific musculoskeletal conditions and injuries in a cross-sectional analysis, using multivariate logistic regression and adjusting for the following potential confounders: age (continuous), race (White vs. other), Hispanic ethnicity (yes/no), current smoking status (smoker/non-smoker), and job tenure as a flight attendant (continuous). All analyses were gender-stratified. We also conducted analyses stratified according to frequency of each type of event during the past year (occurring 1, 2–3, or 4+ times). Analyses were completed using STATA software (StataCorp, College Station, Texas).

We report characteristics of the study sample in Table 1 . Participants presented with a median age of 50 years and a median job tenure of 18 years. Almost 80% of our cohort was female and 9% were current smokers. Over 90% had completed at least some college; 88% were American and 12% were Canadian.

Table 1 . Characteristics of the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study cohort (2014–2015).

We report the prevalence of workplace abuse experienced in the past year (subdivided into categories of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault), overall, by frequency of events and by perpetrator type (passenger, co-worker, etc.) in Table 2 . In the past year alone, 63% of cabin crew experienced verbal abuse, 26% experienced sexual harassment, and 2% had been sexually assaulted. Many participants reported repeated abusive events. The majority of those experiencing verbal abuse and/or sexual harassment had two or more such experiences (per category) in the past year and a non-trivial percent experienced four or more events, though this was not the case for sexual assault. Passengers were the most common source of verbal abuse (89.6%), sexual harassment (68.7%), and sexual assault (46%) directed at crew ( Table 2 ).

Table 2 . The prevalence of workplace harassment and assault in the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study (2014–2015), presented overall, by frequency of events, and by perpetrator type.

We present gender-stratified results for associations between workplace abuse (the specific exposure variables of interest were verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault) and physical and psychological health outcomes as represented by (1) depression assessed by a validated scale, (2) fatigue and sleep disturbance symptoms in the preceding 2 weeks, (3) work-related injuries in the past year, (4) and musculoskeletal injuries and conditions in the past year in Table 3 . We report associations between all types of workplace abuse and physical and mental health outcomes. For example, among females, verbal abuse was positively related to depression (OR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.74–2.45), work-related injury or illness (OR = 3.17, 95% CI: 2.35–4.26), sleep disturbance/fatigue (OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.43–2.31), musculoskeletal strain, sprain, and pain (OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.38–1.91), and fractures or contusions (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.28–2.33). For sexual harassment, the corresponding effect estimates among females were OR = 1.91 for depression (95% CI: 1.52–2.30), OR = 3.48 for any workplace injury or illness (95% CI: 2.22–5.44), OR = 1.75 for sleep disturbance and fatigue (95% CI: 1.30–2.35), OR = 1.83 for musculoskeletal strain, sprain, and joint pain (95% CI: 1.52–2.21), and OR = 1.51 for fractures or contusions (95% CI: 1.13–2.02). Patterns were generally similar, though less precise, for male participants, and when evaluating sexual assault in relation to these outcomes, though verbal harassment was not related to sleep disturbances/fatigue or to fractures/contusions among men, and sexual harassment was likewise not related to fractures/contusions among men ( Table 3 ).

Table 3 . Associations between threats/verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assault with health outcomes in the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study (2014–2015), adjusted for age, tenure, Hispanic ethnicity, white race, current smoking status.

We report associations between workplace abuse and health outcomes stratified by frequency of each type of event (1 time, 2–3 times, or 4 or more times in the past year) among females only (due to statistical power concerns) in Table 4 and show these results graphically in Figure 1 . For example, we evaluated the association between verbal harassment and sleep disturbances/fatigue within strata of those experiencing 1 episode of verbal abuse, 2–3 episodes of verbal abuse, or 4 or more episodes of verbal abuse within the past year. We observed a pattern of stronger associations among women experiencing more events. For example, verbal abuse was not related to depression among women who had experienced one event in the past year (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.58–1.49) but was associated with depression among those experiencing 2–3 events (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.68–2.52) and 4 or more events (OR = 3.85, 95% CI: 3.31–4.39). Similarly, ORs between sexual harassment and depression were 1.44 (95% CI: 0.93–1.95) among those experiencing one event, 1.83 (95% CI: 1.29–2.38) among those experiencing 2–3 events, and 4.12 (95% CI: 3.18–5.06) among those experiencing 4 or more events. However, an increasing number of sexual harassment events was not meaningfully associated with sleep disturbances/fatigue or with fractures/contusions. Sample size was generally too low to obtain reliable and precise corresponding estimates for sexual assault in our sample ( Table 4 ).

Table 4 . Adjusted odds of work-related health outcomes and depression among females according to frequency of harassment and assault in the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study (2014–2015).

Figure 1 . Odds ratios for health outcomes in relation to abuse and harassment episodes in the last year, Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study (2014–2015). 1: Depression 2: Any Work-Related Injury or Illness 3: Sleep Disturbance or Fatigue 4: Musculoskeletal Strain or Sprain, or Joint Aches/Pain 5: Musculoskeletal Fracture or Contusion. *Point estimates and confidence limits for work-related injury/illness among those with 4+ exposures to verbal abuse (OR = 9.89, 95% CI: 4.01, 24.36) and with 1 exposure to sexual harassment (OR = 4.13, 95% CI: 2.08, 8.11) are truncated. We were not able to calculate ORs and 95% CIs for work-related injury/illness among those with 4+ exposures to harassment.

Consistent with previous studies reporting reduced physical and psychological wellbeing in relation to workplace abuse ( Ballard et al., 2006 ; Gunnarsdottir et al., 2006 ; Lee et al., 2008 ), we observed strong associations between all types of abuse and depression, sleep disturbances/fatigue, workplace injuries, and musculoskeletal conditions among cabin crew. Associations were generally strongest among those experiencing abuse with greater frequency in the past year. Our study confirms previous findings and extends the sparse literature on this topic in terms of types of abuse investigated, health outcomes considered, statistical power, and the inclusion of male cabin crew, showing associations between workplace abuse and health outcomes similar to those seen in women. This report informs future research directions and workplace policy considerations regarding the health, safety, and well-being of this understudied group of workers, as well as other service and health professionals with similar work environments and subject to similar workplace expectations.

To date, flight attendants are often not provided with sufficient training and tools to manage abusive interactions with passengers and are particularly susceptible to harassment due to employment in a profession that is primarily female and has been sexualized in popular culture. Flight attendants also contend with increased stress due to heightened onboard security since September 11, 2001, understaffing, increased passenger densities, and an increasing prevalence of distracted yet connected passengers with portable electronic devices that enable the capture and broadcast of onboard interactions through social media. As of 2018, the FAA Reauthorization Act requires each airline to have sexual misconduct policies and procedures in place, calls for the establishment of a National In-flight Sexual Misconduct Task Force, and mandates the Attorney General, in coordination with other Federal agencies, to start a reporting process for sexual misconduct (these changes will occur within a period of up to 2 years). The specific policies and procedures which will be chosen, as well as their practical enforcement and implementation, are crucial to the success of this endeavor, and as of now no policies are set to be in place to protect against verbal harassment of crew. We note also that a workplace culture that tolerates abuse as the status quo and fails to protect workers who are victims of abuse may be more likely to persist in the context of a global economic crisis, since workers may be especially fearful of losing their employment or job standing due to retaliation for speaking up, and because of concomitant stress and reduced psychological and physical health ( Giorgi et al., 2015 ; Mucci et al., 2016 ).

Our findings are consistent with studies of workplace abuse across a range of professions, which consistently report that people experiencing workplace sexual harassment and other forms of abuse have higher rates of psychological distress, adverse mental health outcomes, some adverse physical health outcomes, and negative job-related consequences, including when these associations have been evaluated prospectively in a limited number of publications to date ( Keashly, 1997 ; McDonald, 2012 ; Nielsen and Einarsen, 2012 ). Only two prior studies of sexual harassment and health specifically among flight attendants were conducted in Europe over 10 years ago. Our study extends this sparse literature to the U.S. and Canada, which employ over 100,000 flight attendants and have different cultures in many respects ( Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018 ). We also present updated findings in light of a changing cross-cultural work environment for cabin crew, including an older and more diverse work force, increasingly rigorous job demands and customer service expectations, an updated fleet (often meaning more passengers per plane), and more aggressive and entitled passengers ( American Customer Service Index, 2018 ). A finding of note is the high prevalence of abuse experienced in the past year alone, at rates much higher than in a European cohort from over a decade ago ( Ballard et al., 2006 ), but more consistent with a recent survey querying about the prevalence sexual harassment experienced by members of the Association of Flight Attendants ( Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, 2018 ). These higher rates may be due to true increased prevalence or to differences in cultural perceptions of harassment, as both studies evaluated self-reported harassment ( Gunnarsdottir et al., 2006 ).

A study of self-reported well-being among Icelandic flight attendants, nurses, and teachers, all of whom work in mostly female professions with service-oriented and protective roles and high emotional labor demands, found that repeated harassment, bullying, violence, and threats were related to reduced physical and psychological well-being within all groups, though it is difficult to quantitatively compare their findings to ours as the researchers reported neither odds/risk ratios nor associated confidence intervals for these associations ( Gunnarsdottir et al., 2006 ). A large study among Italian flight attendants likewise found that harassment by passengers was related to self-reported fair to poor health, with an odds ratio of 2.83 (95% CI: 1.30–6.18), which is comparable to our findings ( Ballard et al., 2006 ). This study did not, however, find evidence of associations between sexual harassment and current psychological distress ( Ballard et al., 2006 ). We extend this research by focusing on specific diagnoses and symptomology, evaluating health effects of assault, and including male crew. By far the most common perpetrators of all types of workplace abuse against cabin crew were passengers, though supervisors and pilots, co-workers, and others (i.e., airport employees) composed a sizeable minority of abusers as well. This is consistent with figures reported for health care workers in largely female professions, who are most likely to be harassed by patients ( Park et al., 2015 ).

Previous studies comparing the health of flight attendants to that of the general population report an increased prevalence of sleep disorders, fatigue, and depression among crew ( McNeely et al., 2014 , 2018 ). Female flight attendants are more likely to die of suicide than the general population ( Ballard et al., 2002 ), and work as a flight attendant is linked to alcohol abuse ( McNeely et al., 2018 ). This raises the question of to what extent stressful and traumatic interpersonal interactions influence health among cabin crew compared to other occupational factors, including shift work, long hours, separations from family, insufficient rest periods between flights, lack of institutional support, flight attendants' role as first responders (including possible trauma around crashes and terrorist attacks), social isolation, and inadequate availability of nutritious food at work ( Griffiths and Powell, 2012 ).

Limitations of our study include its cross-sectional design, which precludes inferences about causality, though our use of structured questionnaires aims to minimize this bias. It is possible that people with mental health conditions are more vulnerable to experiencing abuse or to perceiving ambiguous interactions in a negative light, and the direction of causality is unclear. It is reassuring that our results are consistent with prospective studies of abuse and health outcomes ( McDonald, 2012 ; Nielsen and Einarsen, 2012 ), such as a large study reporting that, among women, workplace sexual harassment at baseline was related to subsequent psychological distress, but psychological distress at baseline was not related to later experiencing harassment ( Nielsen and Einarsen, 2012 ). These results were reversed for men, however, for whom psychological distress at baseline predicted experiencing sexual harassment by the time of follow-up ( Nielsen and Einarsen, 2012 ). We note that even if people with mental health conditions are more likely to be abused, they could still experience worsened mental health as a result of these experiences. Although all data were collected simultaneously, we assessed depression and sleep disturbances during the previous 2 weeks, whereas we asked about abuse over the past year, thereby reducing the likelihood of reverse causality within the depression and sleep questions.

We note that health outcomes were self-reported, and validation through medical records was not possible due to the associated scope and cost. However, sensitivity and specificity are generally found to be moderate to high for musculoskeletal disorders and depression diagnoses ( Picavet and Hazes, 2003 ; Sanchez-Villegas et al., 2008 ). Another potential limitation of our study was recruitment from a mix of company rosters, on-site airport recruitment campaigns, and an online/social media presence. This strategy may contribute to selection bias, as volunteer participants may be self-selecting relative to those recruited using a randomized approach and may differ in terms of socioeconomic status, attitude toward research, and/or other factors related to health or ability to complete surveys, as discussed in a recent analysis regarding online recruitment in the Heart eHealth Study ( Guo et al., 2017 ). While it is unclear whether this self-selection would lead to disparate enrollment with regard to both the abuse exposures and health outcomes, differential missing data could contribute to selection bias if participants experiencing more frequent abuse and worse health outcomes omitted their responses to those items. However, we note that studies report that while online recruitment may lead to selection bias on a variety of factors, such as gender and marital status, it is much less likely to affect internal (rather than external) validity of exposure-outcome associations ( Guo et al., 2017 ). This is likely to be especially true in a relatively homogenous workforce than in a general population study recruited online. It is also important to note than an online recruitment strategy has many advantages in terms of efficiency, reliability of data collection and coding, and the ability to reach a wider range of potential study participants ( Guo et al., 2017 ).

Our study may have attracted a disproportionate number of flight attendants with psychological or physical health concerns, leading to detection bias, as flight attendants with worse health or exhibiting more psychological distress may be more motivated to participate in an epidemiological study of flight attendant health. However, it is reassuring that our results are consistent with previous studies that recruited participants uses more randomized approaches ( McDonald, 2012 ; Nielsen and Einarsen, 2012 ). Also, it is reassuring that the gender distribution in our study is similar to the distribution within three prominent U.S. airlines, provided to us by their professional flight attendant union (data not shown).

An additional limitation of our study was insufficient statistical power to evaluate some associations among male participants or for assault, which occurred with much less frequency than harassment. Finally, we did not have sufficient power to evaluate health effect estimates by perpetrator type.

Strengths of our study include access to the resources of a large cohort of cabin crew with a wealth of information on multiple health outcomes, work experiences and exposures, and potential confounders. In addition, online questionnaires are an increasingly popular option in epidemiologic research, including in high profile studies such as the Millennium Cohort and the Nurses' Health Study ( van Gelder et al., 2010 ; Bao et al., 2016 ). This mode of data collection allows for validation checks, personalized questions, convenience, and accessibility to participants, and equal or better validity compared to printed questionnaires ( Guo et al., 2017 ).

Conclusions

We report associations between workplace abuse and depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, and musculoskeletal injuries among a large cohort of workers. Our findings have implications for the health of cabin crew and other health and service professionals, as well as for worker productivity. Depression, fatigue and musculoskeletal injuries are related to reduced productivity and job performance, lower organizational commitment, increased absence from work, and early retirement ( Hardy et al., 2003 ; Karpansalo et al., 2004 ). Our findings may also be applicable to passengers, who may be subject to harassment by the same perpetrators that abuse flight crew. Future studies are needed to replicate our findings and to evaluate these associations prospectively, as there are few longitudinal studies of the health effects of workplace abuse that would allow researchers to evaluate the direction of causality. Longitudinal studies should also evaluate associations between workplace abuse/harassment and work-related outcomes such as days of lost work due to psychological distress or sick leave or reduced organizational commitment. Future high-powered studies should evaluate whether associations between workplace abuse/harassment and health outcomes differ according to perpetrator characteristics.

The strong associations observed in our study and other research, as well as the high prevalence of reported abuse among cabin crew, highlights the question of how workplace policies can be altered to mitigate these prevalent abuses against crew and possibly fellow passengers. For example, protocols already exist for properly training supervisors and workers in ways to handle inappropriate behaviors, for prevention and remediation of workplace abuse, and in what specifically constitutes workplace abuse ( McDonald et al., 2015 ). Specifically, conveying that harassment is a community (rather than individual) concern, encouraging and providing multiple channels for workers to seek advice and support (including in “gray area” situations), rewarding those that take appropriate (neutral and objective) action and disincentivizing those that retaliate against the complainant, clearly stated penalties for violations and abuses, universal training across the organization as well as specific training for managers or those in positions of power, and openly and visibly stating that workplace harassment and abuse will not be tolerated are all strategies strongly supported by the literature ( McDonald et al., 2015 ).

Clinicians could also consider how jobs with high emotional labor demands may predispose people to adverse health outcomes from maltreatment, educate their patients or clients regarding their psychological or physical responses as well as on coping and response strategies (e.g., minimizing focus on the abuser in order to regain a sense of control), and be aware of signs of distress in patients working in such occupations ( McDonald et al., 2015 ). Importantly, clinicians should also be prepared to refer patients to appropriate therapies and treatments following disclosure or signs of psychological distress.

Ethics Statement

Our study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. All participants provided their written informed consent prior to participation in our survey-based research.

Author Contributions

SG designed and conducted statistical analyses for this study, wrote much of the manuscript, and oversaw many aspects of building and maintaining the Flight Attendant Health Study cohort and questionnaire, including the questions central to this analysis. IM interpreted the findings of the study and wrote much of the manuscript. SN was involved in study design and interpretation and statistical analysis, as well as lending her expertise regarding the sexual harassment epidemiology literature. EM helped design and interpret findings for the study and is the founder and Principal Investigator of the Flight Attendant Health Study. All authors reviewed the manuscript prior to submission to Frontiers in Psychology .

Anmol Chaddha contributed to the manuscript by aiding in statistical analyses, and Anthony Brown was instrumental in the recruitment efforts for Wave 2 of the Flight Attendant Health Study.

The current study was funded by FAMRI Grant CIA 150083. FAMRI had no role in the design of this study, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data, or in writing the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: occupational health, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance

Citation: Gale S, Mordukhovich I, Newlan S and McNeely E (2019) The Impact of Workplace Harassment on Health in a Working Cohort. Front. Psychol. 10:1181. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01181

Received: 02 January 2019; Accepted: 06 May 2019; Published: 24 May 2019.

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Copyright © 2019 Gale, Mordukhovich, Newlan and McNeely. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Irina Mordukhovich, imordukh@hsph.harvard.edu

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Workplace Harassment

• First Online: 05 May 2023

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• Riann Singh 3 &
• Shalini Ramdeo 4  

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In this chapter, another pressing challenge facing employees globally is explored, that is, workplace harassment and its multiple research facets. Workplace harassment refers to interpersonal behavior intending to harm another employee in the workplace. It can take the form of verbal abuse, violence/physical aggression, workplace bullying, or sexual harassment, and has unequivocally detrimental effects on physical health, mental health, and work performance. Workplace harassment affects all groups of employees to varying degrees (for instance, men, women, LBGTQ + ). The developments in research in such areas are assessed. The outcomes of harassment and its impact on withdrawal from work, work attitudes, intentions, behaviors, and work quality are investigated, and the antecedents are also evaluated in research. Further, promoting equity and belongingness in the workplace is assessed and the implications of the #MeToo movement on workplace harassment. The literature is explored in these areas and research gaps are also identified.

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Singh, R., Ramdeo, S. (2023). Workplace Harassment. In: Contemporary Perspectives in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30225-1_6

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• Published: 11 June 2021

Perception and experiences of sexual harassment among women working in hospitality workplaces of Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia: a qualitative study

• Mulugeta Dile Worke   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2540-9809 1 ,
• Zewdie Birhanu Koricha 2 &
• Gurmesa Tura Debelew   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6216-3804 3  

BMC Public Health volume  21 , Article number:  1119 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Workplace sexual harassment is a public health problem that depends on gender, context, and perceived ideology. Although studies have documented the prevalence and consequences of workplace sexual harassment worldwide, victims’ perceptions and experiences are still poorly understood in low and middle-income countries, particularly Ethiopia. Female workers in the hospitality industry, including hotels, bars, restaurants, fast-food restaurants, and cafeterias, are particularly affected. Hence, this study aimed to explore sexual harassment perceptions and experiences among women working in these workplaces.

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted from 1 January to 30 August 2019. Data were collected from female employees and key informants from several hospitality workplaces in Bahir Dar City. Data were collected through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and key-informant interviews. Women who experienced sexual harassment were selected using the snowball method, and key informants were recruited purposefully. Six focus group discussions, ten in-depth interviews, and thirteen key informant interviews were conducted. Data were analysed using the ATLAS ti version 8.4.24.

In this study, most participants perceived that sexual harassment is pressuring, threatening, touching, abducting sexual advances, and experiencing verbal, physical, and non-verbal types. Similarly, the perceived risk factors were related to the organisations, the customers, and the victims, with the consequences being work-related, health-related, financial-related, and family-related.

Conclusions

Workplace sexual harassment in hospitality workplaces is poorly understood, but many women experience it. A variety of factors also caused it, and it influenced both organisations and people. Public awareness programs, pre-service preparation, in-service training, prevention, and psychosocial support are needed. Similarly, policies and strategies for the organisations should be developed and implemented.

Peer Review reports

The world is looking better for women because of a decline in early marriage, increased involvement in leadership and politics, gender equality by reforming legislation, and 39% inclusion in the workforce [ 1 ]. However, despite their achievements, they continue to face challenges concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights. Workplace sexual violence (WSV) is one of the most serious sexual and reproductive health issues [ 2 ]. According to our systematic review and meta-analysis, workplace sexual harassment (WSH) is the most common form of WSV [ 3 ]. It has been viewed from legal, psychological, and public perspectives [ 4 , 5 ]. It is defined objectively in the legal context while subjectively explaining it from a the psychological perspective [ 6 ]. This research focuses on the experiences of WSH victims and describes WSH from a psychological perspective. Accordingly, WSH includes unwelcome verbal, non-verbal, or physical sex-related conduct that the recipient views as offensive and has a detrimental effect on the victim’s well-being and work performance [ 7 , 8 ].

The persistence and pervasiveness of workplace sexual harassment and its implications in various workplaces have been  well documented in the literature [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Women are disproportionately affected by WSH due to their working status, the type of work they do, and the conditions in the field they work in [ 2 ]. This issue may also harm their safety, health, and well-being [ 2 , 12 ]. Emotional, psychological, professional, and health-related effects can occur [ 12 , 13 ], resulting in costs worldwide, especially in low and middle-income countries [ 14 ]. Thus, well-established social assets, including social networks and tailored reproductive health knowledge, are needed to decrease WSH vulnerability [ 15 ]. Consequently, the Sustainable Development Goals [ 1 ], United Nations women and the International Labour Organization acknowledged this issue. These organisations also called for fundamental reform to ensure that all women have safe, secure, and respectful work environments [ 2 ].

Nevertheless, given the increasing number of hospitality industries, more women enrolment than men, and the more precarious nature of the job [ 16 ], there is a concern about WSH prevalence and the severe consequences [ 2 ]. This is a global problem because of young and minor employees with income instability, stress, and dependence on supervisors, managers, and customers. On the other hand, those working in low and middle-income countries’ hospitality industries are particularly unorganised and vulnerable [ 17 ]. Similarly, because of the differences in understanding, experience, perceived risks, and implications based on factors such as gender, background, and perceiver ideology, the WSH is still a debatable and unsettled problem worldwide, especially in low and middle-income countries [ 12 , 18 ].

As a result, studies have reported that WSH is a severe public health concern that affects 42% of women working in hospitality jobs in the United States [ 19 ], 74.6% in 27 European countries [ 20 ], 89% in Australia [ 21 ], 50% in the Nordic Region [ 22 ], and 60% in Taiwan [ 23 ]. It is also a significant public health issue in Sub-Saharan African hospitality workplaces, such as Accra, Ghana [ 11 , 24 ] (49.4%), Cameroon (98.8%) [ 25 ], Zimbabwe (78%) [ 8 ], and South Africa (14%) [ 26 ].

Precarious jobs [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], sexually objectified environment [ 31 , 32 ], tolerance of sexual harassment [ 33 , 34 , 35 ], psychosocial safety climate [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ], and complaint procedures have also been related to WSH [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. In China, studies have revealed that tradition [ 44 ] and abusive supervision are linked to service performance [ 45 ] and WSH. Employees’ socio-economic status [ 46 ], workplace culture [ 31 ], unmet expectations of employees, inefficient organisational management, inappropriate professional communication, factors related to employees [ 47 ], and customers, supervisors, and co-workers [ 48 ] have all been established as predisposing factors for WSH. A recent review also summarised the causes as structural (e.g., causes related to the tourism sector structure and the nature of its employment), managerial, and widespread beliefs and norms in hospitality workplaces [ 17 ]. Previous research, on the other hand, had left out the employee and agent/broker considerations.

Furthermore, literature shows that [ 6 , 17 , 49 ] employees in various occupations are exposed to WSH from customers, co-workers, supervisors, and subordinates [ 50 , 51 ]. These, in turn, affect organisations and each victim [ 5 , 50 ] and are  widely viewed as a significant and prevalent problem, especially in occupations involving interpersonal contacts [ 49 , 52 ]. There is still a gender, context, and ideology-based disparity in understanding, experience, and coping strategies in these occupations [ 18 ], and there are no validated measures to gain in-depth insights into hospitality WSH. As a result, recognising local perceptions, interactions, causes, and implications and valuing the status with validated resources helps meet international development agendas.

Despite immense pressure on WSH, advancements in policy development, and extensive research, WSH persists. Subsequently, the extent of the problem underlines the need for further research. However, the research on incidence rates can fail to accurately characterise the reality that confounds the WSH definition [ 18 ] owing to the lack of agreement on the WSH definition [ 4 ] and the misunderstanding of WSH terminologies. Some research has focused on the effects of WSH on mental and behavioural well-being, employment, and physical health. However, the reproductive health effects of WSH, such as transactional sex, commercial sex work, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, and menstrual disorders, are rarely recognised and are not well understood. Consequently, this problem deters women’s capacity, which nearly mobilises half of the world’s business and endangers nearly all international Agendas’ attainability.

Likewise, in Ethiopia, although proclamation number 414/2004 prohibits WSH and prescribes simple imprisonment for the perpetrator [ 53 ] and is considered a prohibited act of workplace under proclamation number 1156/2019 [ 54 ], WSH in the hospitality workplace has been a secret issue until recently [ 3 ]. Only a few studies among commercial sex workers [ 55 , 56 ], health care providers [ 57 , 58 , 59 ], restaurant workers [ 60 ], university students [ 61 ], female faculty and staff [ 62 ], and female civil servants [ 63 ] in limited areas have reported the level of workplace sexual violence. However, none of these studies considered people’s perceptions, experiences, and perceived risks of WSH. Moreover, although these concerns are essential for developing successful WSH prevention programs for women employed in the hospitality industry, most initiatives to mitigate reproductive health issues such as HIV/AIDS, unsafe abortion, and unintended pregnancy did not include WSH. Thus, this study aimed to explore women’s perceptions and experiences with WSH in the city administration’s hospitality workplaces in northwestern Ethiopia.

Study setting

This exploratory study was conducted in Bahir Dar city, Amhara national regional state capital, Ethiopia. Most hospitality workplaces are situated in the town, mainly because recreational centres are favourable for enjoyment. According to the Bahir Dar Special zone report in 2018/19, the Bahir Dar population is 356,757 (296, 532 urban, and 60,225 rural), of which 187,918 were female. It is one of the tourist destinations in this region. The number of people eating, drinking, and enjoying outside their homes is expected to increase, demanding more hotels, restaurants, and cafeterias. The estimated average size of female employees working in these different hospitality workplaces ranged from 12 to 40. Hospitality workplaces, such as hotels, bars, restaurants, fast-food establishments, cafeterias, and taverns, were chosen as the setting for this research. Hospitality jobs are customer service positions in hotels, restaurants, events, and other tourism industry areas. The hospitality workplaces where the participants were recruited were hotels, bars, restaurants, fast-food establishments, and cafeterias.

Study design

An exploratory qualitative design was also conducted. In-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to explore the individual and group perspectives of WSH’s experiences during work. On the other hand, key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of the WSH’s issue at work from hospitality workplace supervisors/managers, cashiers, and customers.

Study participants

Women employees who had at least 6-months of working experience in the hospitality industry and experienced workplace sexual harassment while serving in the workplace within the last 6 months were included in this study. The participants worked in hospitality workplaces in the study area. After identifying the first women, women who worked in hospitality workplaces and experienced WSH were identified and contacted using the snowball method. Non-governmental organisations’ community workers living in the city where the study participants live help us reach them. Further, Key informants were recruited purposefully to gather evidence that supplements women employees’ ideas. The enrolment of the study participants was continued until the data was saturated. Those customer key-informants who had a physical and mental illness that deterred their communication ability were excluded from the study.

Sample size and sampling techniques

Ten IDIs and six FGDs were conducted with female employees to understand their experiences. A total of 35 female employees participated in the focus group discussions. Two FGDs each had five participants, one FGD had seven, and three FGDs each had six. The additional sampling progression was stopped based on information saturation. Based on a criteria-based purposeful sampling, 13 KIIs (five male managers, four female cashiers, and four male customers) were selected and interviewed. The selection criteria were serving more than 6 months in a hospitality workplace with more than six female employees (managers, cashiers) and those perceived as regular customers by the employees.

Data collection

Data were collected from 1 January to  30 August 2019. The information was gathered through a variety of methods and sources. For a more in-depth understanding of the phenomenon, several data collection approaches have been used.

The interview guides were intended to have discussions with the study participants. The participants’ questions to elicit the WSH experience were: whether they had faced any activities that made them uncomfortable. The guides for IDIs and FGDs were similar, but a distinct interview guide was developed for KIIs. The issues discussed in IDIs and FGDs were women’s views and perspectives, while the issues discussed in KIIs were for a more in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. Issues, such as potential risk factors and effects, were posed and included during extensive conversations with employees and key informants (managers, co-workers, and customers).

Furthermore, the perceived impact of WSH was included. For the interview questions’ consistency and correctness, all guides were first prepared in English, translated into Amharic (the local language), then back-translated and rechecked by a third person. All guides were pre-tested on five women employed in hospitality workplaces with similar demographic profiles. The pre-test was planned to ensure their suitability for improving the guidelines and interview techniques for the local setting. These participants were not included in this study.

All discussions were conducted in Amharic, a local language. In-depth Interviews and FGDs with women were conducted in a convenient place for the study participants. The IDIs and FGDs were held in a hotel where female workers felt comfortable and secure. The study participants wanted to ward off their work surroundings to have free discussions about their perception, work experience, and impact. The researchers also wanted to evade the formality of the hospitality workplace environment. The researchers conducted the FGDs in a way that was hired to perform the treatment safely and competently. The researchers also tried to make the location an average place where all participants could access transport.

Key informant interviews were conducted in a private room voluntarily provided by the hospitality workplace Managers and supervisors. Appointments were made over the phone for each participant. Four researchers (first author (male) and three female qualitative experts) conducted the FGDs and IDIs (two for each): one facilitated the discussions. At the same time, the other assisted with getting together the women and taking notes as required. With the participants’ permission, aAll interviews were audio-recorded with the participant's permission . The duration of each interview and focus group discussion ranged from 60 to 105 min. The participants were provided with tea, coffee, water, soft drinks, and transportation costs. FGDs and IDIs took place at all hours of the day and at night (until 8:00 PM).

Data analysis

All recorded interviews, FGDs, and field notes were transcribed verbatim to Amharic (the local language) and then translated into English. The transcripts were prepared by a research assistant who was a university graduate with experience in conducting qualitative research and the first author. Twelve (40%) (three FGDs, five IDIs, and four KIIs) of the transcripts were cross-checked with audio files to ensure accuracy and consistency before coding. The first Author (MD) reads a sub-sample of transcripts (prepared by the expert) to check for consistency. Data were analysed using Braun and Clark’s (2006) thematic analysis approach [ 64 , 65 ]. To take the thematic analysis, the team re-read the descriptive information to become intimate with the facts to obtain codes for thematic analysis. The analysis approach is based on data-driven codes. Data-driven codes were performed using an open coding method, which included categorising small codes. To ensure the reliability of the coding, the principal investigator and co-investigators independently coded a set of transcripts from each interview category reached a consensus on a list of codes and had all authors verified it. When there were disputes about  the nature of the codes, the study team had talked about finding a consensus on the final code list and an interpretation agreement. The codes were added to the subsequent transcripts using the computer software Atlas-ti, version 8.4. Next, the first author grouped the small codes to generate main themes, which were then debated, decided upon, and checked by the team, with emerging themes becoming the categories for analysis [ 66 ].. These key themes provide a basis for the thematic framework. These ideas were produced through analytic thinking as new ideas were identified inductively from the data.

Data quality management and assurance

In addition to the techniques performed under each activity, different techniques were considered to ensure the study’s credibility, dependability, transferability, and conformability. After a pre-test was conducted among participants with a similar population and setting, the interview and FGD guides were edited and modified by qualitative research experts. Second, the facilitators of the FGDs and IDIs, and two key informants (supervisors) were invited to check the correct representation of the study’s findings and ideas. Third, to increase the credibility of the findings, the team triangulated the data collected from female hospitality employees, supervisors, cashiers, and customers. Then, to check the consistency between the analysed data and the last textual findings, the research team invited the people participating in the interview and focus group discussion, sent the transcriptions by email, and received comments from them. Moreover, respondent bias and the risk of reactivity were ensured by holding back researchers’ predetermined ideas about the issue under study.

Sociodemographic characteristics

Fifty-eight participants (45 female employees, five managers, four cashiers, and four customers) participated in the six FGDs, ten IDIs, and thirteen KIIs. The average length of record for each IDI and FGD was 80 min and 40 min for KIIs. The female'sage was from 18 to 37 years. The key informants involved managers, cashiers, and customers who work as merchants, tour guides, and drivers (Tables  1 and 2 ).

Four themes and fifteen sub-themes were covered identified in this article. The identified themes include (1) the perception of WSH, (2) the experience of WSH, (3) perceived risk factors for WSH victimisation, and (4) consequences of WSH victimisation.

Perception of sexual harassment

All the participants perceived that sexual harassment as a common issue in their workplaces. The subthemes under this theme were pressuring, threatening, touching, and abducting for sexual advances. Even though they did not classify them into distinct categories, they perceived different sexual harassment incidents in hospitality workplaces.

Pressuring for sexual advances

Most of the participants perceived that sexual harassment is being pressured to engage in unwanted sexual activities through tricks, including exaggerated tips and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favours:

“Sexual harassment is a condition in which women working in [hospitality workplaces] are pressured to do sexual activities without their will. Mostly, they may be tricked through tips, another unnecessary gift, or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favours.” (25 years, IDI, four years of experience in a cafeteria).

Other incidents that the participants perceived as sexual harassment were activities conducted by the supervisors or the owner. These activities include promoting and offering a new job and giving money in exchange for sexual favours:

“Sexual harassment is the supervisors’ or owners’ action that can be explained by providing money, and promising rewards, and promoting for a better job situation with a better salary scale in exchange for advanced sexual favours.” (FGD, two years of experience in a restaurant).

Threatening for a sexual advance

The participants also perceived that sexual harassment was the activity of the sexual perpetrator that was expressed by threatening to hurt women’s relatives, firing from a job, complaining or falsely accusing about the provided service to the immediate supervisors in exchange for sexual favours:

“Sexual harassment is identifying the women’s weak side that makes it difficult to overcome the sexual requests. The soft parts could be her financial problem, her relative, or her beloved one. So, I think sexual harassment is expressed by threatening to hurt her relative or beloved one, complaining about her service provision performance to her immediate boss, threatening to fire her from a job, and not paying for the services unless we accept his sex requests. ” (IDI, four years of experience in a cafeteria).

Touching sensitive parts of the body

Furthermore, participants perceived that sexual harassment was expressed by touching sexually sensitive parts of women, random sexual jokes, verbal sexual requests, repeated requests to sexual mating, sexual solicitation, sexual intimidation, sexual prodding, and requesting telephone number:

“Touching the breasts, hips, and genitalia, slapping the hips and the face, requesting sexual intercourse, commenting on physical attributes, and inviting dining and requesting sex are some of the things at which sexual harassment can be explained.” (IDI, 1-year experience in a cafeteria).

Similarly, participants perceived that showing pornographic movies/pictures, writing sexual messages on the pay bill, unfair treatment of women, and undermining the women were the parts of sexual harassment:

“I believe sexual harassment is explained by … , winking, and undermining me considering my gender.” (FGD, two years experience in a restaurant).

Abducting for sexual intercourse

Lastly, participants perceived that sexual harassments was expressed through abducting, raping, slapping, kicking, pinching, and verbal insult of the women:

“Oh! I think sexual harassment is rape or abduction.” (FGD, four years of experience in a cafeteria).

Another participant added:

“ … sexual harassment could be explained by spitting of drinks, slapping, pinching, caressing, talking unnecessary sexual talks, and talking and distributing false things about me to the manager.” (FGD, five years of experience in a cafeteria).

Experiences of sexual harassment

Besides their perception, women recognised a variety of incidents in their workplaces. The subthemes under this theme include verbal, non-verbal, and physical types of workplace sexual harassment and perpetrators. The participants noted that the perpetrators were agents, colleagues, customers, supervisors, and owners. Although they did not categorise the incidents, the research team classified their experiences as verbal, non-verbal, and physical types of sexual harassment.

Verbal experience of sexual harassment

The verbal forms of sexual harassment experiences include cat-calling – whistling, yelling sexually suggestive comments, usually at a stranger; unwanted flirting; and jokes referring to sexual acts and sexual orientation. It also includes unwelcome graphic comments about a person’s body; unwelcome and inappropriate inquiries about a person’s sex life; sexual favours – asking for sexual favours from a co-worker or peer; and other sexual advancements. Participants in this study reported that women were often harassed often in hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, and groceries and feel uncomfortable. They also reported that female workers experienced the threats of firing from a job, hating relatives/beloved, accused her of improper service provision in exchange for sexual favours. Their female co-workers were reported to accept perpetrators sexual requests out of fear of retaliation if they turned away their unwanted sexual overtures:

“When we refuse to give our phone number to them, they will call the manager and falsely accuses us of not serving them properly. If we explain ourselves as we had a husband, children, and family, they will put the bill bag upside down.” (FGD, two years of experience in a cafeteria).

Other participants added:

“When I was in a bar, unwanted sexual acts such as fondling, undermining, pushing us towards undesirable sexual acts using money and intimidating. The perpetrators did not realise that we were working for survival. As per their understanding, we all are doing transactional sex to get money from them.” (IDI, 1-year of experience in a bars).

“.... I experienced many things regarding sexual harassment. Some customers spit on me, fondles me, kicked my hip, touched my breasts, and tried to kiss me forcefully. Some also wait for me after I finished my job and threatened me to spend the night with them and engaged in sexual intercourse with them. Generally, it is the workplace where we gain when we are unable to get another option.” (IDI, four years  ofexperience in a restaurant).

Participants reported that they experienced inappropriate promises and too many tips to accept sexual requests. They also mentioned that they experienced comments about their physical attributes, requests for dates, requests for telephone numbers, requests for sexual advances, and verbal insults while they are at their job:

“Ha … ha … ha … [starts to laugh] … Then, he asked me to eat dinner with him, requested me to spend the night with him, and asked me to have sexual intercourse with him.” (IDI, three years of experience in a lodge cafeteria).

“On one occasion, a famous and rich man approached me. He has been my customer, and he mostly gave  me an exaggerated tip for me. He has a marriage ring on his finger. Mostly he had been with his friends. Only later, sometime, he started to become lonely. I served him as usual. … One day, he requested my telephone number, called for me, and requested me to accompany my dwelling house. I did not hesitate; I handed him my telephone number. He called me later at night. I talked to him in detail. He informed me that he was not happy with his spousal relationship. He told me that he could change my life. He also promised to open a business centre and invited me to have sex with him. Merely, I turned down upon his request. Also, I told him to keep confidential what he requested.” (IDI, two years of service in a cafeteria).

Nonverbal experience of sexual harassment

The non-verbal forms of sexual harassment experiences were unwelcome gestures of a sexual nature – looking someone up and down in a way that makes that person feel uncomfortable, blocking someone’s path; indecent exposure (e.g., “flashing”); and unwelcome display and sharing of sexually explicit pictures and objects. This form of sexual harassment was prominent in the participants’ discussions. Accounts of nonverbal sexual harassment experiences were overt or covert sexual pressure, such as winking, showing pornographic movies, pictures, undermining the women, unfair treatment, gazing, and composing messages on the bill:

“… Leaving their phone number on the bill, winking, gazing, and so on.” (FGD, two years of experience in a cafeteria).

“Most of the things that I experienced in the hospitality workplaces are … , showing pornography movies, writing a message on the bill, winking, … , and other gestural signals.”(IDI, two years of experience as a waitress in a hotel).

Physical experiences of sexual harassment

The physical forms of sexual harassment experiences include unwanted touching or physical contact (e.g., an arm around the shoulder; a hand placed on a thigh or another part of the body; standing up against someone after being told to move away); and being subjected to a strip search of the opposite sex presence. Participants reported the types of sexual harassment experiences: abduction, fighting to kiss, fondling, forcing to do sex without willingness, kicking, pinching, slapping, rape, and touching the erogenous part of the bodysensitive areas.

“Most of the activities I experienced in the hospitality workplaces are, … , pinching, fondling, touching the buttocks and the breast. There are also winking, … , and other gestural signals of erotic request.” (IDI, two years of service in bars).

“… . Some came to the organisation for the first time, touched my breast, touched and slapped my hips, fondle me, forced me to kiss, and touched my sensitive sexual parts, … .” (21 years, IDI, two years of experience in a cafeteria).

Who is responsible for the perpetration?

Participants sought the responsible bodies of sexual harassment perpetration. These categories include customers, supervisors/managers/owners, male co-workers, agents (brokers), and transactional sex workers. Under the customers’ category, they mentioned different people with diverse professions. However, they emphasise that the incident was worse among wealthy elderly adult customers:

“The local old and wealthy guys are a more challenging group. …. They tried to take us to very unusual places … , which is far from the populated area.” (FGD, three years of experience in a cafeteria).

“Mostly married and older adults are the perpetrators. Those people, for the most part, went to restaurants to recruit girls for sexual harassment. They ordered something and did not use what they ordered. Instead, they harassed us and asked for sexual intercourse. We know them, but they removed their marriage ring and coming to us, simulating that they did not marry.” (FGD, three years experience in a cafeteria).

“Old men like me just shaved their beard, have brokers whom they will bring girls from hospitality workplaces and universities. Brokers are doing senseless work. The low-income family sends their daughters to work and universities, but brokers bribing women and girls and sell them to elderly people whom they want to have sex with.” (Customer, KII, Merchant).

The managers/supervisors/owner’s category was the second of the mentioned categories:

“When we apply for the job as waitresses, the first question which is going to be asked by the manager or supervisor is not educational status, and it is not the work experience; it is a willingness to have sex with him.” (FGD, six years of experience in a restaurant).

“The head waitresses also harass us, and receptions/cashiers are the sources of our address for the perpetrators. The receptions and cashiers will be given our address to get money and other incentives.” (FGD, three years experience in a bar).

Conversely, transactional sex workers’ presence and their way of attracting customers also lead to the perception that all employees are engaged in such activities. Besides, per their description, some women were working as an agent to create a relationship:

There are two types of waitresses. The first group is women who have family, marriage, and children. This group needs their job and help their family. The second group is young women who have no family. This group mostly does transactional sex for covering their expenses to rent a home, buy food, cosmetics & cloth, and sometimes create a link between the perpetrators and the victims. By the way, this is because of the lower salary paid by the hospitality workplaces. Perpetrators considered all waitresses like the second group.” (IDI, two years of experience in a cafeteria).

Perceived risk factors of sexual harassment

Women, customers, cashiers, and managers noted various factors that place women working in the hospitality workplace at risk for sexual harassment, including factors related to customers, victims (women), organisation, and others (Society, peer, and policy-related risk factors).

Customer-related factors

Participants mentioned that the customers’ perceptions, such as considering women as a transactional sex worker, commercial sex worker, ordinary object, interested in related sexual matters, and easy-to-get employees for sex:

“The customers perceive that all waitresses are transactional sex workers or commercial sex workers, and they ask us to have sex with them using their money.” (IDI, two years experience in a restaurant).

Another person added:

“One of the driving factors is that most of the waitresses engaged in commercial sex work and customers perceive that all are interested in this work.” (FGD, five years experience as a waitress).

It was mentioned that customers’ behaviours, such as being alcoholic, being sex addicted, and failing to set up successful spousal relationships, were also among the risk factors for sexual harassment:

“Sometimes, I think that they are addicted to having sex. Since they are married, they can get sex with their wives. However, they came to us to do the same thing with their money. Most of the married perpetrators try to convince me that cheating is healthy and has no problem.” (IDI, two years experience as a waitress).

Similarly, some respondents also mentioned that the activities of the customers such as threatening to harm relatives/beloved, undermining the work or the workers, and provision of an exaggerated tip in exchange for sexual favours:

“Perpetrators approach the women and identify the women’s weak side to get an easy way for their request. The weak parts of most women are finance/money, relatives, or their darlings. As a result, the perpetrators threaten us to agree to their sexual requests, or they will harm our relatives/darlings and will not pay for the services that they used.” (FGD, three years experience in a cafeteria).

“After all, in a big hotel or small catering, waitressing is considered less critical work by the customers. Some waitresses are also considered non-civilised. Rarely do some customers only understand the job and the workers. However, some classified us as commercial sex workers.” (FGD, three years experience in a bar).

Victim-related factors

Participants reported that women deliberately pursue a relationship established upon the male providing financial help. Then some men expect sexual advances in return for financial help. This act implies that women rely on income from customers, poverty and financial problems were the risk factors for WSH:

“… Due to the lower salary, we sometimes engaged in sexual activity for the compensation of our economic problems through the perpetrator’s money.” (FGD, two years experience as a waitress).

Participants perceived that women who came from a rural area, young and inexperienced waitresses, and women with low awareness of the hospitality environment/sexual harassment are most vulnerable. It was reported that the pre-work awareness created in each organisation were instructions about customer handling, wearing styles, work, salary, and Organogram of the workplaces. Some women reported that they had got training related to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. However, they mentioned that they were not aware of WSH:

“Most of the time, they gave direction about customer handling and other issues that affect their business. Sexual harassment is not their business.” (FGD, two years experience in a bar).

“The pre-work instruction document in hospitality workplaces states all about time management, uniform, customer handling, and others that mainly to maximise their benefit. It is not mentioning anything to keep the right of the women working in these workplaces.” (FGD, four years experience in a restaurant).

Customer handling style, frequent contact with customers, the beauty of the women, and gender norms are the other perceived risks of sexual harassment by the participants:

“We are expected to be very friendly and communicative for customers. However, this may lead to a casual relationship.” (FGD, three years experience in a bar).

“… , women’s natural beauty and their welcoming approach makes them more vulnerable to sexual harassment.” (KII (customer), driver).

Behaviours of women working in the hospitality workplaces were also viewed as increasing their WSH’s risk, including transactional sex for financial support. Women and the key informants reported that some women set up relations with men to support themselves financially:

..., young women who do not have a family have transactional sexual relations to cover their expenses related to home, rent, food, cosmetics and clothing. By the way, this is because of the lower salary paid by the hospitality workplaces. Perpetrators considered all waitresses like the second group and did sexual harassment to all waitresses.” (IDI, two years experience in the cafeteria).

Some women also create relationships with customers for a specific purpose. They tried to accept invitations, call customers with a nickname, chew gum in front of the customers, show different walking styles and gratuity (Amharic-gursha). They also keep silent while a customer touches their sensitive body parts, touch the customers back, laugh unnecessarily:

“Chewing gum, accepting dinner, and other invitations by the customer indicates desire.” (FGD, four years experience in a restaurant).

“The signs of the willingness of the waitresses, such as, willing to gratuitous, unnecessary laughing, feeling the customers back or face, and nicking is also the driving factors.” (IDI, two years experience in a restaurant).

Organisation-related factors

Participants respond that some organisations encourage women to wear uniforms or clothing that show their body (breasts, buttocks), encouraged to wear sexually attractive clothing, and encouraged to wear uniforms that show their upper legs:

“Some of the [hospitality organisations] need to make the waitresses a sexual object. They dress them in short /miniskirts/ that exposed their body. The uniform is attractive, which can display their collection for attracting customers sexually.” (IDI, four years experience in a cafeteria).

Similarly, respondents noted that the nature of the job, night shifting, perceiving that a customer is a king and always right” were the factors that expose women to different forms of sexual harassment:

“Practically, we women are victims. Whereas customers are considered as kings and always right. I faced such a problem while I complain of sexual harassment to my manager.” (FGD, five years experience in a cafeteria).

On the other hand, lack of a fixed salary scale or small salary, lack of grievance management, and rules and regulations in the hospitality workplaces were also the risk factors:

“The monthly salary for women working in hospitality workplaces is not enough. They cannot afford a dorm, food … , and it has a Burdon on them. To overcome this time, women will negotiate with the perpetrators to get money in exchange for sexual favours.” (KII (cashier), 1-year experience in a restaurant).

“So far, I did not know organisations working to address such problems and have a formal complaints procedure. There are no special rules and regulation for privileged waitresses safety of sexual harassment in their working place.” (FGD, five years experience in a restaurant).

Manager’s power and influence were also the other organisation-related risk factors in some hospitality workplaces:

“Managers/supervisors/owners tried to use their power to harass sexually. If we are not volunteers, they will fire us from the job. If we are volunteers, they will promote to head waiter from an ordinary waitress in exchange for sexual favours.” (FGD, four years experience in a cafeteria).

Society, peer, and policy-related risk factors

Society’s perception, peer sexual pressure, and lack of governmental/professional association which could work on hospitality employee’s sexual and reproductive issues:

“For those who need to complain, the statutory institutions want witnesses, and it is unlikely to get any solution for acts such as touching, winking, and fondling. Those who see this act are unwilling to witness it due to the fear of not being fired. Even with the presence of a witness, we are not ready to file a complaint. It is due to the long process of the complaint. Mostly, we thought that the legal process takes time and money. The legal bodies act if they see someone is hitting us. I do not think that there is a legal issue with sexual harassment. I think the legal process is not giving solutions.” (IDI, 1-year experience in a cafeteria).

Further, the participants also noted drivers, such as agents (brokers), culture, corruption, easy accessibility of women who could work in hospitality workplaces:

“If someone raped me, I would do nothing. Sometimes, agents/brokers, either the perpetrators or the dealers of the activities. So, it is so difficult to solve the issue with the legal ground. Most of the perpetrators can be able to stop the case with money. Therefore, since it is not simple to take the issue to court, I will not go to court because no one will consider the issue.” (FGD, three years experience in a restaurant).

“It is known that waitresses are targeted for sexual harassment because of our culture, physical beauty, easy-obtainability, and financial problems.” (KII, manager).

Consequences of sexual harassment

All participants tried to delineate categories of consequences of sexual harassment. These were work-related, health-related (mental health, reproductive health, and reproductive health), family undermining, and financial consequences.

Work-related consequences:

Participants reported that job-hop, including changing the locality, work withdrawal (lateness, absentees), and being a coffee seller nearby the roads are the effects of frequent sexual harassment in the hospitality workplaces:

“It depends. Some may deteriorate. However, some may take victimisation as a sprinting for future life. Some may end in … , and in coffee selling in the street. However, some change their jobs or marry a rich person and become stable in their marriage.” (IDI, 1-year experience in the cafeteria).

“Once I prefer not to suffer from frequent sexual harassment. I searched and got another waitressing job in another institution. However, it was the same. Then, I changed my job to the barber.” (IDI, one and half-year experience in a bar).

Similarly, participants noted that the organisations were failing to have productive workers and lose their dignity due to the frequent sexual harassment occurring in them:

“… It can reduce the organisation’s image, dignity, and community acceptance. It also leads to the loss of productive working group women.” (IDI, 1-year experience in a cafeteria).

Moreover, women employees in the hospitality workplaces reported that they sometimes faced job stress, job dissatisfaction, work disrespect, lack of promotion for a better situation, and hated the job due to the frequent sexual harassment in some hospitality workplaces.

Some participants reported that they were promoted to a better position, got good recommendation letters, and got married as a result of the harassment they faced and the response they gave (agreement) to the perpetrators:

“The consequences are different. However, some may take the victimisation as a sprinting for their future life and maybe promoted to a better job position, get better work recommendations in exchange for sexual favours, marry a rich person, and have a stable life.” (IDI, four years experience in a cafeteria).

Health-related consequences

Mental and behavioural consequences:.

Almost all the participants reported that women working in hospitality workplaces faced mental and behavioural, physical, and reproductive health consequences due to frequent sexual harassment. Participants remarked that the hospitality workplaces’ frequent sexual harassment affected their well-being (psychological, physical, and social (relationship)).

They noted that they felt depressed, not enjoying life, not optimistic about their future, and failed to control their lives. Again, they noted that they were distressed with their life, felt sad, failed to survive the way they want, lack self-confidence, lack self-esteem, and felt hopeless about their future:

“…. I considered myself a person who has no value, lost my confidence, thought about suicide, and felt sick of the frequent acts. I hate my work myself and felt that working in hospitality workplaces is a disgrace. I asked myself, how does the perpetrator sexually harass me without recognising me? Sometimes I just cried. I also thought about my boyfriend’s thoughts.” (IDI, 1-year experience in a bar).

They also reported that they felt unhealthy physically, saw terrible dreams at night, dissatisfied with their daily activities and lacks adequate money to live, hate what they are trifling, and lack the cliches to work in hospitality workplaces:

“I realised that the waitresses lose their trust. They lose their interest in working and discuss their issues. They develop fear and lack of self-confidence, moral disengagement, psychological depression. Then, they withdraw the job, depression, lack of self-esteem, fewer clutches to work.” (KII (supervisor), two years experience).

Furthermore, they reported that they felt helpless, socially isolated and ignorant, blame themselves, hate themselves, addicted to substances/smoke, careless, felt useless and powerless, lack trust, question themselves, and felt ashamed/shy:

“The perpetrators affected my life so badly. I felt guilty, shameful, depressed, and fear every human beings while I moved home with transport, and suffered a terrible dream at night.” (IDI, four years experience in a cafeteria).

Conversely, some reported that they were engaged and built a successful career as a result of the relationship that started with sexual harassment:

“However, some change their jobs or marry a rich person and become stable in their marriage. As a consequence, they could receive a good future.” (IDI, three years experience in a restaurant).

Lastly, some reported that they felt depression, anxiety, stress, had suicidal ideation, and psychological trauma as a result of sexual harassment that happened to them in the hospitality workplaces:

“All these activities make me hate the job and expose me to depression, fear, and self-hate. I feel angry, disturbed, think that I am not a person like others.” (IDI, two years experience in a bar).

Physical health consequences:

Some of the participants reported that they were bruised, injured, developed headache, fatigue, and other physical complication (fistula) as a result of some physical forms of sexual harassment:

“… Seven individuals have captured me at a time. Nevertheless, the police saved me though they beat me. I shed blood while he kicked me with his ring worn hand. I lost my phone, necklace, and tip. I also knew a female who faces similar situations. Eight adult individuals had violated her, and she got faint while the 9th individual had started climbing her. After then, she took the illness. Presently, in that respect, is a leakage of fluid from her genital area.” (IDI, six years experience in a cafeteria).

Reproductive health consequences:

Participants also mentioned the connection between their WSH experience and their reproductive health problems. They reported developing menstrual disorders, participating in sex trade/transactions, abortions, unintended pregnancies and acquired sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS:

“Since we may not receive what we wish to have, in this instance, we may practice transactional sex and other social issues. I knew one young woman who was a waitress first and then became a commercial sex worker. This involvement in commercial sex work is one problem.” (FGD, six years experience in a cafeteria).

Other participant added:

“Sexual harassment is one of the reasons for exposure to HIV/AIDS … , and would be exposed to stigma and discrimination.” (FGD, two years experience in a restaurant).

“Mostly physical and psychological impacts such as depression, menstrual disorder, tiredness, and fear happened to me.” (IDI, two years experience in a bar).

Financial and family undermining consequences:

Participants reported that they faced financial problems and family undermining after they were victimised by sexual harassment in the hospitality workplaces:

“The anger that happened in my workplace due to the unwanted sexual acts made my display on my family and disturbed my family relationship.” (IDI, two years experience in a restaurant).

“Frequent sexual harassment leads to job-hop, unwanted pregnancy, and to encounter a different financial crisis, social stigma, HIV/AIDS, and street life.” (KII (customer), driver).

This research used the IDIs, FGDs, and KIIs to discover that WSH was common among women working in the hospitality industry. It also showed that women’s perceptions of WSH were distorted. All of the study’s participants agreed that women employed in the hospitality industry face various types of WSH, including verbal, nonverbal, and physical harassment. This study also established several factors that must be tackled to bring about practical change in Ethiopian hospitality workplaces and the workplace sexual harassment-related implications, consistent with other studies conducted in the hospitality industry [ 10 , 67 ]. These findings show that despite the prohibition through a criminal code proclamation, prescription of simple imprisonment for the perpetrator [ 53 ], and considered a prohibited workplace act [ 54 ], WSH is a concern in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, some of the participants in our study had a clear understanding of the idea of sexual harassment, which is consistent with earlier studies [ 68 ]. However, most respondents had inadequate awareness or training about WSH before or during their employment process, confused about differentiating WSH, ambient harassment, and violence. This finding was consistent with the Zimbabwean study [ 8 ]. It also indicates that women employees in hospitality workplaces were not recruited based on merit. This finding indicates that though women workers were required to have awareness and skills in managing WSH beyond the hospitality workplaces, the lack of exposure to different sexual and reproductive health-related training, including WSH, make them fail to differentiate WSH from the other forms of violence. Thus, to be aware of WSH in hospitality workplaces, a set of unique approaches and system reforms must be introduced to enhance women’s employees’ knowledge and working capacity. These approaches must introduce training for women employees to increase confidence in preventing WSH at their workplaces. The training should be in pre-service education regularly, in-service training, and professional development. There should be curricula, pre-service training and accredited by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Ethiopia. In-service and professional development training should also include induction or orientation training, foundation training, job training, refresher or maintenance training, and career training. Further, awareness should be created for both the victims and perpetrators using different behavioural change communication and information, education, and communication approaches. In this approach, posters that can create awareness of the service users could be helpful.

Furthermore, in this study, participants responded that they had experienced verbal, physical, and non-verbal forms of WSH, which align with the findings in South Africa’s [ 69 ] and Australia [ 70 ]. The verbal forms include comments about physical attributes, lustful calls, threats in exchange for sexual favours, tips & promises in exchange for sexual favours, dirty sexual jokes/stories, frequent requests for dates, verbal insult by the perpetrators targeting their sexual orientation, targeted for rumours of sexual promiscuity, and offering money in exchange for sexual favours. Additionally, WSH’s physical forms were touching, unwanted kissing, violent sexual acts (rape, holding hands and clothes, hugging), staring at breasts and hips, fondling, and cornered or placed in a position was difficult to get out. Workplace sexual harassment’s non-verbal forms also included seeing perpetrators watching pornographic pictures, receiving a love letter, and gesture requests of sex (i.e., winking, gazing, leering, ogling, and staring). Furthermore, gender-related demands were discouraging because of being a female, unfair treatment, forcing to give sexual services like sitting beside the perpetrators and wearing uniforms that provoke sexual desire. The perpetrators also initiated the women to sexual advances in exchange for job employment, recommendations, and a better job position. As a result, in line with a study conducted among Mexican indigenous farmworker women in Oregon [ 71 ], women in this study reported that these experiences made the hospitality workplaces feel unsafe and unfair. Thus, hospitality workplace management should try to control specific unsafe acts by eliminating unsafe working conditions and implementing government proclamations. Organisations also should prioritise risk factors and pay more attention to control them to achieve a safer working environment.

The perpetrators of WSH mentioned above were customers, co-workers, and immediate bosses (supervisors/managers/owners), which is consistent with the findings of studies conducted in Zimbabwe [ 8 ] and the USA [ 10 ]. On the contrary, unlike other studies, the study participants emphasised that some women and agents (brokers) were also responsible for the act. This finding supports the statement that emphasises peers’ more considerable influence than managing labour sexualisation [ 72 ]. This covert and overt involvement of hospitality workplace managers and co-workers/peers, and agents (brokers) in the perpetration act made the problem further complicated. Thus, the stakeholders such as the Ministry of labour and social affairs of Ethiopia, the Ministry of culture and tourism, and the Ministry of health, together with non-governmental organisations, should give attention, set ethical standards in hospitality workplaces, and provide ethical guidelines for employees that focus on WSH. These ethical standards and guidelines should influence employees’ ethical behaviours and identify appropriate ethical judgment in the workplace. These stakeholders also should establish strategies to monitor the implementation of those ethical standards and guidelines. However, the indication of women’s hidden perpetrators in the employment process (i.e., the agents, who introduce individual employees to an employer, also request sexual advances to introduce them to the employer) was an essential and unique finding that needs further empirical studies on the issue in different contexts and occupations. Organisations should, however, consider this group of individuals while they are giving orientation to their employees.

Also, some women in the current study practised transactional sex. This finding is consistent with a study conducted in Cameroon [ 73 ]. In line with other studies [ 50 , 51 ], transactional sex practice was due to the low wages inadequate to fulfil basic needs and improve social status. These women showed attention-seeking behaviours and displayed an interest in creating a relationship with service users. These attention-seeking and relationship creation practices include accepting invitations, calling customers with a nickname, chewing gum in front of the customers, different walking styles, touching customers, and taking a perk. These practices created a perceptual experience that all the women working in hospitality workplaces have the desire. Thus, in line with a study conducted among university students in Ethiopia [ 74 ], transactional sex practice is considered a risk factor for WSH in hospitality workplaces. These practices, their engagements in commercial sex work, and STIs/HIV were also the reported reproductive health effects of WSH. These findings align with other studies [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 ] and could be due to this practice’s risky nature. These findings imply that some women’s transactional sex practice was either a risk factor or WSH’s effect in hospitality workplaces. It also indicates that there were indirect sex workers who did not get attention from health authorities and could be reasons for high STIs reports, including HIV/AIDS among frontline service workers of the hospitality workplaces. Hence, there is a necessity to study the magnitude and plan schemes to reject or dilute the problem.

Participants in this study also perceive WSH victimisation factors such as the organisations, the customers, the women working in the hospitality workplaces, society, legal bodies, agents, culture, and corruption. Consistent with a study conducted among restaurant workers in Canada [ 81 ], employer hiring practices and clothing codes that emphasise physical attractiveness, the customer-service orientation of hospitality workplaces, and customers’ involvement with tips create an environment that exposes women to WSH. Like other hospitality industry sexual harassment studies [ 31 , 32 , 82 ], organisations in this study hired attractive and young women, failed to orient their employees about WSH, created sexually objectifying environments, tolerated WSH, accepted that WSH is inevitable, and perceived customers as kings. Additionally, this study found that employees’ practice of a transactional sexual relationship or acting as a commercial sex worker, perpetrators’ behaviours, such as sex addiction, alcohol addiction, and unhappy marital relationships of customers, were the perceived exposing factors for WSH. Likewise, perpetrators’ threats (to hurt the women’s relatives, fired from a job, and demoted from a better position) and provision of tips, promises, rewards, promotion, and work recommendations in exchange for sexual favours were also perceived exposing factors. In line with other studies [ 83 , 84 , 85 ], these findings imply multiple risk factors for sexual harassment in hospitality workplaces. Thus, employers must note that WSH is a warning sign threatening workplace productivity and a stable workforce. Future research should also consider a multi-level study incorporating organisational perspectives such as power distance, workplace culture, job-gender context, and individual perspectives such as personality traits, personal characteristics, and socio-economic status.

Furthermore, this study participant experienced work-related, health-related (i.e., mental and behavioural health, physical health, and reproductive health), economic, and family-related consequences. This result agrees with findings from other workplace studies [ 48 , 49 , 63 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ]. Like the other studies, the possible reasons might be the peculiarities of the industry, such as customer power [ 13 , 72 , 92 ], the sexualisation of the workplaces [ 31 , 32 ], workplace culture [ 93 ], and sociodemographic characteristics [ 94 ] of women as risk factors of WSH. Consequently, the peculiarities mentioned above might end in different work-related consequences [ 12 , 95 ]. Thus, in line with the findings mentioned above, in this study, the frequently stated work-related consequences include work withdrawal, job withdrawal, lack of motivation, job stress, and job dissatisfaction. Furthermore, consistent with other studies [ 48 , 66 , 69 ], participants in this study reported that WSH affects their general well-being. The results of this study’s depressive symptoms, anxiety, tension, and post-traumatic stress symptoms were similar to those of studies conducted in Ethiopia among female university students [ 61 ] and female faculty and staff [ 62 ] in Ethiopia. Participants in this study have documented physical injury, headache, stomachache, and other physical complications, consistent with the findings of a meta-analytic analysis report [ 88 ].

However, unlike most of the others’ study findings of WSH’s consequences in the hospitality workplaces, the reproductive health-related effects other than transactional sex practice such as engagement in commercial sex work, menstrual disorders, and acquiring STIs, including HIV, were reported in this study. The menstrual disorder issue as an effect of WSH is consistent with a quantitative study finding among female Italian university students [ 96 ]. This is a novel finding that has received little attention in the WSH literature. The Italian study found that age, place of birth, being in a couple of relationships, or hormone therapy did not affect these links and that sexual abuse during one’s life, depression, or a particular gynaecological diagnosis did not affect. According to this research team, changes in ovarian hormone levels and neurotransmitters, activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or increased sensitivity to its activity are all possibilities. The team also supports the hypothesis described in conjunction with the hypothesis that emphasises the stress effect on the neurotransmitters affected by menstrual disorders. Stress may also lead to increased sensitivity in the perception of menstrual symptoms [ 97 ] and the maximum effect of stress in increasing menstrual symptom perception’s sensitivity, which needs further research about the link. This study’s finding implies that the effects of WSH are multidimensional and need multidisciplinary interventions supported by policies (both organisational and governmental). Though the mental, behavioural, physical health and organisational effect relations with WSH have been examined, studies did not show the relationship between WSH’s reproductive health effects, such as transactional sex practice and menstrual disorder, with other effects risks of WSH. Therefore, hospitality organisations should help WSH victims by providing psychological counselling, detaching themselves from workplace pressure, and effectively treating work-related depression. Legal protection and prevention measures (i.e., leadership engagement, solid legal protections, judicial protection services, WSH victims’ education, potential perpetrators, and the more comprehensive hospitality workplace staff about local laws; putting place prevention measures at the individual, community, and societal levels; organising workshops, training, and information sessions on how to bolster the resilience of WSH; and engagement all the stakeholders involved in the hospitality workplaces.), training for employees and managers, and financial support for women employees would also reduce vulnerability to WSH. Female hospitality workers’ protection from WSH should also need integrated legal security, well-versed prevention programs, and reproductive health links into legal frameworks. Future studies should also empirically test these relationships. A structural equation model incorporating the direct and indirect effects of the WSH on the identified consequences, which in turn helps in the understanding of moderators of the relationship between sexually harassing behaviours and the effects identified in this study, and multivariate analysis of variance incorporating all effects could be promising approaches. Exploring women employees’ WSH coping strategies could also give a complete picture.

While this study substantially contributes to the international academic literature on sexual harassment in the workplace, some limitations should be recognised. First, this study was conducted in Bahir Dar city, Amhara Region. It may not reflect WSH experiences in Ethiopia’s hospitality workplaces. Second, sexual harassment is a sensitive topic to discuss with different stakeholders (owners, supervisors, customers, cashiers, and women). Therefore, they may have under-reported such experiences (social desirability bias). However, the research team was made by public health professionals, health education, and behavioural science professionals trained to explore this multifaceted topic.

Furthermore, the first author was a man who led a team of female researchers to interview women about their workplace sexual harassment experiences, which mainly originated from male clients, and which necessitated the need to establish an atmosphere in which women felt secure sharing their actual experiences of harassment. Therefore, to maintain privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality of data, the first author explained to each team member and respondents that their identity and the evidence they would provide would be secret. Further, the first author and the team members were made clear to the respondents that only the researchers directly involved with this study would access it.

Implications

This study adds essential insight into the existing research body on hospitality workplace sexual harassment in Ethiopia. The themes acknowledged here signify current social dynamics functioning within the hospitality workplaces’ setting and women relationships with customers, co-workers, agents, and immediate bosses. The behaviours and perceptions discussed suggest actionable areas for improving hospitality workplaces’ efforts to support women employees and prevent WSH through interventions. By providing female employees with practical support and security and promoting gender-equitable attitudes among employees, customers, co-workers, and immediate bosses, the hospitality workplaces can be a stepping-stone rather than a hurdle toward females’ realisation of their full potential. Likewise, organisational WSH related policies and strategies should have to be developed and implemented. The team also suggests that hospitality workplaces should formulate, in consultation with Ethiopian law and labour relations experts, to improve WSH policies that could change deep-rooted beliefs and norms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first qualitative research in Ethiopia to investigate WSH perceptions, experiences, risks, and effects, especially reproductive health effects. However, the magnitude, associated factors, and consequences of the practice of WSH among women in hospitality workplaces should be a focus of future researches. Further research is also needed to document the coping and perpetrators’ personality.

As suggested in the study findings, WSH is common. There remains a wide diversity of opinions regarding the meaning of WSH. Similarly, women employees faced various forms of WSH, mentioned different perceived risk factors and consequences. This finding indicates that WSH is a norm that creates a culture of hesitation and other unintended outcomes, which may endanger more health and organisations’ performance that seeks health care and prohibit productivity. Thus, it may cause a further rise in women’s psychological deterioration as long as social, moral, and legal norms are not harmonised. As a result, coordinated efforts from the hospitality industry, non-governmental organisations, government agencies, other stakeholders, sexual and reproductive health organisations, consumers, and female employees are needed.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Center for International Reproductive Health Training

Focus Group Discussions

Human Immune Deficiency Virus

In-depth Interviews

Institutional Review Board

Key informant Interviews

Doctor of Philosophy

Sexually Transmitted Infections

United States of America

Workplace Sexual Harassment

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Acknowledgements

The authors were grateful to all study participants who willingly participated in this study. The authors also thank CIRHT, Debre Tabor University, and Jimma University Faculty of Public Health. Furthermore, the authors appreciate each hospitality workplace staff, managers, and all participants for the interviews. The authors also would like to acknowledge the data collectors for their dedication.

This study is the research work of the first Author’s PhD program under the department of population and family health, faculty of public health institute of health, Jimma University. He received a fund from the centre for international reproductive health training (CIRHT) for Ethiopia to pursue his study. However, the sponsoring organisations had no role in study design, data collection, analyses, the decision to publish, and preparing the manuscript.

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Department of Midwifery, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia

Mulugeta Dile Worke

Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

Zewdie Birhanu Koricha

Department of Population and Family Health, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

Gurmesa Tura Debelew

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MD and GT initiated the concept, developed the protocol, and was involved in data transcription, coding, and the manuscript’s write-up. MD and ZB were involved in study design and data analysis. MD implemented and supervised the fieldwork. All authors critically reviewed the analysed data, read, agreed, and approved the last version of the manuscript and are personally responsible for the author’s contributions and ensure that questions are linked to any part of the work’s accuracy or truthfulness.

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Correspondence to Mulugeta Dile Worke .

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This study finding is part of an exploratory sequential mixed method. Ethical approval was received from the Institutional Review Committee (IRC) of Debre Tabor University (Ref N o -RP/366/10). Bahir Dar city’s tourism and culture offices and Zonal health officials were informed about the study’s aims by a letter written from Debre Tabor University. All methods were carried out following relevant guidelines and regulations. The World Health Organization’s ethical and safety recommendations for exploring sensitive topics were observed [ 98 ]. Each research participant signed an informed written consent form. Written permission was approved to record the conversation. To uphold the seclusion, anonymity, and confidentiality of data, the team explained to each of the respondents that their identity and the evidence they would provide would be secret. It was further clarified to the participants that only the researchers directly involved with this study would access it. Confidentiality was maintained after the data was collected by de-identifying the field notes, transcripts, audio recordings, and subsequent publications. In this article, the researcher used generic terms such as ‘study participants’ and ‘female workers’ instead of their names. The study participants had the right to terminate the interview/withdraw her from the subject field at any time. In each interview and focus group, privacy and confidentiality were ensured. Moreover, by conducting FGDs and IDIs away from their work, participants were assured. So that they freely discussed the issues without fear of such conversations being monitored by their supervisors.

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Supplementary Information

Additional file 1..

Focus Group Guide for women hospitality workplace workers

Additional file 2.

In-depth interview guide for women hospitality workplace workers

Additional file 3.

In-depth interview guide for hospitality workplace managers

Additional file 4.

In-depth interview guide for hospitality workplace customers

Additional file 5.

In-depth interview guide for hospitality workplace cashiers

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Worke, M.D., Koricha, Z.B. & Debelew, G.T. Perception and experiences of sexual harassment among women working in hospitality workplaces of Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health 21 , 1119 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11173-1

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Published : 11 June 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11173-1

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Research on Workplace Harassment

Research on the causes and impact of harassment in the workplace.

An Overview on Workplace Harassment

Project WHEN (Workplace Harassment Ends Now) is working hard to stand behind our mission of elevating awareness of workplace harassment and encouraging organizations and individuals to start driving change. The undeniable truth is that harassment and bullying can occur in any place of employment. 

Therefore, a huge piece of our organization’s work is researching all areas of workplace harassment and the different factors that are impacting work cultures. Our goal for this research is to get to the root of the issue and identify implementable solutions.

This page highlights our valuable findings that organizations in different industries can leverage to instill respectful behaviors in the workplace. We are pleased to share the key aspects of our exploration, as well as bring people closer to other research and resources that offer important information on preventing and addressing workplace harassment.

Project WHEN’s Research on Harassment in the Workplace

➤ the definition of harassment.

Project WHEN defines workplace harassment as “unwanted conduct to include all areas of workplace harassment, including sexual and physical harassment, quid pro quo harassment, microaggression, bullying, ageism, job shaming, verbal threats, derogatory comments, discriminating or exclusionary behavior, and other forms of offensive behaviors.”

➤ Examples & Types of Harassment at Work

• Sexual and physical harassment. Can range from leering at a part of your body, jokes or other verbal remarks of a sexual nature, to unwanted touching or rape.
• Quid pro quo harassment. Sexual coercion; “Your career in the company would be on the fast track if you weren’t so uptight. You need to join me at the annual sales convention in Las Vegas.
• Microaggression. “You did a really nice job in your team’s presentation…for a woman.”
• Bullying. “This report is full of errors. I could have asked my kid to do this report and had less hassle in fixing your stupid mistakes.”
• Ageism. “OK Grandpa, get the lead out. I’d like to get this project wrapped up before I’m a senior citizen.”
• Job shaming. “He’s only the janitor. His opinion doesn’t count.”
• Verbal threats. “I swear I’ll put my fist through this wall if I need to explain this to you one more time.”
• Derogatory remarks. Comments exhibiting a lack of respect toward someone, degrading remarks, or expressions of criticism, hostility, or disregard.
• Discriminating or exclusionary behavior. “I want Bill, Mike, Joe, and Brian to work on this assignment.” Somehow, Ahmed, Vishnu, Mohammed, and Alejandro have yet to be selected to participate on a special projects team.

➤ Intent Versus Perception

Project WHEN defines harassment as unwanted behavior of a nature that violates your dignity, makes you feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated, and creates a hostile or offensive work environment. It’s about how you perceive the behavior and/or how you feel, rather than the intention of the harasser. The harasser may not intentionally be trying to offend you. Or he/she may tell you they were only kidding. It doesn’t matter what he/she set out to do, whether maliciously or innocently. It’s harassment if YOU perceive that it is.

➤ Outside the Walls of the Workplace

• Workforce opinions about how to treat other people are not manufactured completely within an organization. Employees walking into a workplace do not leave their personal experiences on the doorstep (even if they tried). 
• Employees’ personal attitudes can contribute to an already toxic work environment. 
• Similarly, the attitudes we experience within the workplace can, in fact, taint how we interface with others in our personal lives.

➤ The WHEN Perspective on Workplace Harassment

Project WHEN (Workplace Harassment Ends Now) recommends taking a holistic approach to eliminating workplace harassment. With a goal of addressing systemic harassment for all employees, an all-encompassing methodology must be adopted.

• Activities associated with eliminating workplace harassment should not be focused exclusively on women.
• Diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives
• Attracting, retaining and inspiring top talent
• Enhancing the employee experience and engagement

➤ The Impact of the Critical Influences in Creating Organizational Culture of Respect

Diane Stegmeier, founder of Project WHEN is also the CEO of Stegmeier Consulting Group, a change consulting firm. As a global thought leader in change management and workplace research, she recognized that one of the most important change initiatives that organizations should be focusing on is creating respectful, harassment-free workplaces for future generations. 

Deriving from her extensive research on resistance to workplace change and important findings on the 15 Critical Influences™ compiled in her book, Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments , Project WHEN offers the concept of Organizational Culture of Respect which focuses on a number of factors that influence behavior in the workplace. 

These factors are also known as Critical Influences™ and they can contribute to the creation of a culture of respect in the organization’s work environment. If left unchecked, the influence of these factors can negatively impact the corporate culture, and can establish a toxic workplace where harassment can flourish. 

Ten Influences on Behavior in the Workplace

• Leadership Behavior
• Image & Reputation
• Rewards & Consequences
• Organizational Structure
• Compensation
• Communication
• Core Values
• Accountability
• Physical & Virtual Workplace

Impact of Influences on a Culture of Respect

➤ ongoing research into the root causes and aftermath of harassment in the workplace.

Project WHEN is always looking for sponsors to help support new research studies. Service providers in the area of employment law and respectful workplaces may consider partnering with Project WHEN to sponsor the development of surveys, white papers, and research studies.  As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, these types of activities allow us to continue to raise awareness for these important issues.  We will also be adding to our research findings as benchmarking data returns from organizations that have enrolled in WHEN’s organizational certification program .

Specific Industries Affected by Harassment

Harassment in the tech industry.

Despite claims of progress, the tech industry continues to draw attention for frequently making news for workplace harassment, ranging from sexual harassment, gender inequality,  racism and ageism. This page covers how tech industry leaders and employees can take a proactive approach in solving systemic harassment, and a list of workplace harassment cases in the tech industry.

Harassment in the Alcohol & Service Industry

Due to the risk factors of allowing alcohol consumption and relying on compensation (often tips) tied to client satisfaction, harassment is quite prevalent in workplaces within the alcohol and service industry. But it doesn’t mean that employers and employees are powerless against it. This page lists the things that we can do to address it, along with examples of harassment documented within the industry.

Harassment in Higher Education

Recent trends suggest that harassment is ingrained in higher education cultures. What can school administrators, faculty members, staff members, and students do to prevent and act against it? Learn that here. This page also includes real examples of harassment in higher education institutions.

Harassment in the Government Sector

Harassment is pervasive in many industries and the government sector is no exception. But what could be influencing the existence of this systemic problem in government workplaces? This post answers this question, and a list of harassment examples that have been reported within this sector.

Harassment in the Media and Entertainment Industry

The media and entertainment industry has been confronted with many stories of workplace harassment. It has become a systemic problem that requires a holistic approach. This page explores how people in the industry can prevent and combat it and provides a collection of real harassment examples within the media and entertainment industry.

Harassment in Sports

A culture of harassment undeniably exists in the world of sports and it has created a systemic issue that is difficult to eradicate. This page covers what leaders, sports officials, athletes, and bystanders can do to address this colossal problem. It also contains examples of harassment in the sporting world.

EEOC Research

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is also working hard to educate organizations and individuals about the importance of preventing workplace harassment. As part of their important work, the federal agency has developed a chart of risk factors for harassment at work and provided corresponding strategies that organizations can use to address such risks.

Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity: Chart of Risk Factors for Harassment and Responsive Strategies

What can organizations and individuals do to combat workplace harassment?

Organizations can get involved by making a tax-deductible donation to help further our cause or becoming a corporate sponsor through the sponsorship opportunities that we offer. For entities who want to initiate a meaningful conversation on workplace harassment, you can host a Project WHEN Roundtable for your executive team, HR, Diversity & Inclusion, and compliance leaders, or for your local business community. 

To start taking a holistic approach in creating a harassment-free workplace, it is important to assess your work culture. Administering an anti-harassment survey can help you touch base with your employees and find potential challenges in the workplace. Project WHEN can guide your organization in deploying the Culture Pulse Survey and provide actionable data that you can use to address areas of improvement.

Pursuing  WHEN™ Organizational Certification will not only allow your company to gain access to best practices in preventing harassment but will also serve as an indication of your commitment to create a harassment-free workplace to your existing and potential employees, customers, and the community.

As an individual, you can donate, as well, and ask your employer to conduct a Project WHEN Roundtable/Seminar. You can also widen your knowledge and influence in driving change by becoming an anti-harassment certified practitioner. We will soon launch a WHEN™ Professional Certification for leaders in Human Resources, Inclusion & Diversity, Legal, and Compliance roles, or any individual who wants to pursue it.

Other Research/Resources

Many researchers have been dedicating their efforts in widening studies about the different aspects of workplace harassment. Below are some pertinent papers and resources exploring sexual harassment and other types of workplace discrimination.

• Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in Organizations: A Test of an Integrated Model

An article reporting the empirical test of the researchers’ proposed conceptual model identifying antecedents (organizational climate and job gender context) and consequences (effects on work-related variables, psychological state, and physical health) of sexual harassment. The model was tested by collecting and analyzing data from a sample of women in non-traditional job roles.

• The Economic and Career Effects of Sexual Harassment on Working Women

Harassment has a huge impact on working women. In this study, researchers use mixed methods of gathering data to examine how sexual harassment affects women’s career trajectory.

• It Is Part of the Job: Waitresses and Nurses Define Sexual Harassment

A study describing the effect of workplace culture on how sexual harassment is defined in jobs that are traditionally categorized as women’s work. Results of in-depth interviews conducted with waitresses and female nurses revealed how perceptions on sexual behaviors vary due to various work norms and factors.

• Managing sexual harassment more strategically: An analysis of environmental causes

This paper studies the environmental causes of sexual harassment. After gathering data from 538 nurses working in Australian hospitals and testing a model showing the correlation of organizational variables to sexual harassment, results revealed that an unbalanced job gender ratio, nurses’ negative perception of management’s leadership style, and no prior socialization all contribute to the occurrence of sexual harassment at work.

• Perceived Sexual Harassment at Work: Meta-Analysis and Structural Model of Antecedents and Consequences

This research tests a structural equation model and examines the antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment at the personal and organizational level. Results revealed that organizational environmental factors are main predictors of harassment.

• Policing Gender at Work: Intersections of Harassment Based on Sex and Sexuality

This paper tests the theory that oppressions based on gender and sexual orientation are linked. By creating a workplace harassment model, gathering data from 629 employees in higher education, and finally analyzing the collected information, researchers explored the relationship between sexual and heterosexist harassment.

• Retaining Employees Through Anti-Sexual Harassment Practices: Exploring the Mediating Role of Psychological Distress and Employee Engagement

Using three theories – sexual harassment, organizational climate, and employee engagement theories, this study introduces a model of how perceived anti-sexual harassment practices and incidents relate to affective commitment and intentions of employees to stay.

• Sexual Assault and Other Types of Sexual Harassment by Workplace Personnel: A Comparison of Antecedents and Consequences

Comparing the theoretical antecedents and consequences of sexual assault by workplace personnel and other types of sexual harassment among women employed in the U.S. Military, this article explores the characteristics of these types of victimization.

• Sexual Harassment in Organizations: A Decade of Research in Review

A detailed review of scholarship about sexual harassment. Focusing primarily on men’s harassment of women, this study answers questions about the definition of harassment, why it happens, who the harassers are, its effects, and what individuals can do to address it.

• Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: Bridging the Gap Between Genders

A study investigating the adverse effects and prevalence of sexual harassment in a federally operated workplace. An analysis of data collected from both males and females shows that women experience sexual harassment more than men. Employees also report that gender harassment had the greatest adverse effects and was correlated with sexual harassment.

• Sexual Harassment Severity: Assessing Situational and Personal Determinants and Outcomes

The severity of sexual harassment is often associated with the type of harassment that occurred. This study introduces a comprehensive model that includes both person and situation-level variables and explains why these are important in assessing how severe a sexual harassment incident is.

• Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power

An article exploring the role of workplace power and gender expressions as a predictor of sexual harassment. Using data from the Youth Development Study (YDS), authors reveal how the battle for power, rather than sexual desire itself, can be the cause of sexual harassment.

• Asia Floor Wage Alliance’s Step-by-Step Approach to Prevent Gender Based Violence at Production Lines in Garment Supplier Factories in Asia

This comprehensive guide presents a step-by-step strategy for preventing gender based violence in garment production lines in Asia which can serve as a great reference for organizations.

• The Moderating Effect of Equal Opportunity Support and Confidence in Grievance Procedures on Sexual Harassment from Different Perpetrators

Drawing on three theoretical perspectives namely the attribution theory, power, and the role identity theory, this study focuses on the differences between the effects of sexual harassment from organizational insiders and organizational outsiders. Results revealed that equal opportunity support and confidence in grievance procedures have a moderating effect on addressing sexual harassment.

• There’s a Policy for That: A Comparison of the Organizational Culture of Workplaces Reporting Incidents of Sexual Harassment

This research studies the differences between organizational cultures of companies with sexual harassment policies in place but still receive formal complaints over those that do not.

• When Men Are Sexually Harassed: A Foundation for Studying Men’s Experiences as Targets of Sexual Harassment

Acknowledging the limited research on men’s sexual harassment experiences, authors conduct a review of the literature on men’s experiences as targets of sexual harassment. This review touches on the need for organizational communication scholars to conduct more research on men’s experiences of sexual harassment.

• When the Customer Shouldn’t Be King: Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment by Clients and Customers

Sexual harassment within organizations is mainly the focus of most research studies. To address the lack of research on harassment experiences at the boundaries of the workplace, this paper introduces a theoretical model of the antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment by clients and customers. 

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• Indian J Community Med
• v.35(2); 2010 Apr

Harassment among Women at Workplace: A Cross-Sectional Study in Coastal South India

B unnikrishnan.

Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, (Manipal University), India

Ganesh Kumar

1 Department of Community Medicine, JIPMER, Puducherry, India

2 Department of Health Information Management, Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal, India

Introduction

Harassment is any improper and unwelcome conduct that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation to another person. Harassment may take the form of words, gestures or actions which tend to annoy, alarm, abuse, demean, intimidate, belittle, humiliate or embarrass another or which create an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.( 1 ) Women face discrimination from childhood, especially in communities where there is a preference for the male child.( 2 ) Harassment in the work place is becoming increasingly important in all sectors of the economy, largely due to growing numbers of negative consequences. This has lead to the formulation of anti-harassment policies by several non-government organizations.( 3 )

This study was carried out to find out harassment among women at workplace, types and reasons for harassment generally faced by working women.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out within the Municipal Corporation limits of Mangalore, a coastal city in Karnataka state. The study area has a literacy rate of 83% (male=86%, female=79%),( 4 ) a high gender related development index (GDI)( 5 ) with a score of 0.714 and a favorable sex ratio of 1022.( 4 )

The study participants comprised women working in educational institutions, banks, hospitals, and shops as these are the establishments where considerable number of women work. The sample size was calculated based on the expected proportion of harassment faced by working women as 25%,( 6 ) absolute precision of 7% and confidence interval of 95% and 10% non-response error. The final sample size came to 160 women. The list of the banks, schools, hospitals, and shopping centers in the study area were obtained from the municipal corporation office. The study sites were selected by simple random sampling from the list. Finally, the study participants were selected by convenient sampling. The data were collected by means of a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire after obtaining the written informed consent from the respondents. The questionnaire assessed the respondents’ socio-demographic profile, their perception of harassment, their personal experience and their awareness regarding anti-harassment policies. Socio-economic status was assessed using modified Kuppuswamy’s scale. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 11.5. Chi square test was used for the analysis and P value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Table 1 depicts the socio-demographic profile of the respondents and the harassment faced by them at workplace. It was seen that the younger respondents faced more harassment compared to the older respondents. There was a linear association which was found to be statistically significant. It was also found that sales girls (80%) followed by nurses (45.7%) faced more harassment compared to school teachers (13.3%) and bank employees (6.1%), this difference was found to be statistically significant. The majority of the respondents who faced harassment were from lower middle and upper lower socio-economic status which was found to be statistically significant. It was also found that respondents with less experience faced more harassment as compared to those with more years of experience at workplace which was found to be statistically significant.

Socio-demographic characteristics of study participants classified according to harassment status ( N =160)

Table 2 shows that out of 160 working women interviewed, about 28.8% of them were harassed; majority (47.8%) of the respondents were harassed within one year of joining their employment. The perceived reasons for harassment were – them being more efficient than their male colleagues (45.7%), followed by them being beautiful (23.9%). The type of harassment was mostly verbal (67.4%) followed by physical (23.9%) in nature. Among the respondents who were harassed, 52.2% had complained and the most common mode of complaint was spoken (83.4%).

Reasons and type of harassment faced by the respondents ( N =46)

In our study, we found that about 28% of the study subjects had experienced some form of harassment, out of which 37% were less than 25 years of age. This could be because the younger girls are more vulnerable and are unaware about the job requirements, or it could be due to the fear of losing their job or a hostile atmosphere in their workplace if they complain. This coincides with a study done in Denmark, where the occupations which were most exposed to the threat of physical violence were nurses, followed by health care workers and teachers.( 6 )

Among the 48 (28.8%) women harassed, 22 (48.8%) revealed that they had been harassed within a year of joining their jobs. This recent harassment could be explained by the fact that when the women join their new jobs, they are ignorant of their right to complain about harassment and afraid of losing their jobs. The reasons perceived by women as the cause of harassment were them being more efficient in their jobs (45.7%) than their male counterparts, followed by them being beautiful (23.9%). This could be attributed to the fact that males feel less secure about their jobs when their female colleagues are good looking or are more efficient. This also reflects our male dominated society where people still think that males are superior to females be it even in the workplace. Majority (67.3%) of harassment were verbal in manner whereas 22.7% were physical. Similar results were found in a study done in Croatia among school teachers.( 7 ) Complaints were lodged in 52.2% of the cases; mostly to their higher authorities of which only 8.3% were written. Other studies also substantiate these findings.( 8 – 10 ) It was found that action was taken only in 15.2% of the cases whereas 41.3% of the complaints were ignored. The fewer written complaints explain the hesitancy of the women to complain since action was taken in only a few cases and it could also be because the women felt it would create a bad working atmosphere.

Our study gives an insight into the depth of the workplace harassment among women, which is on the rise because of the increase in number of working women. Harassment is a serious problem that must be addressed by the government in order to ensure a safe working environment for women.

Acknowledgments

Our sincere acknowledgements are due to all the participants of the study. The present work was supported by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health Program, Grant Number 5 D43 TW05750, from National Institutes of Health – Fogarty International Centre.

Source of Support: Nil

Conflict of Interest: None declared.