The first attempt to study the extent of workplace violence and harassment around the world has found that workplace abuse is widespread and especially pronounced among young people, immigrants and wage earners, especially women. .
More than 22% of nearly 75,000 workers in 121 countries surveyed last year reported experiencing at least one type of violence or harassment, according to the report released Monday by the UN International Labor Organization, the Lloyds Register Foundation and Gallup. .
“Violence and harassment in the world of work is a pervasive and harmful phenomenon, with profound and costly effects ranging from severe physical and mental health consequences to lost income and career path destruction to financial losses for employees. workplaces and societies,” the three organizations said in the 56-page report.
According to the findings, a third of people who experienced violence or harassment at work said they had experienced more than one form, and 6.3% said they had faced all three forms: physical, psychological and sexual violence and harassment. during your work. life.
Psychological violence and harassment was the most common form, reported by both men and women, with 17.9% of workers experiencing it at some point during their employment, according to the report.
About 8.5% of respondents said they experienced physical violence and harassment at work, with men more likely than women, according to the report, and about 6.3% experienced sexual violence and harassment, 8.2 % of them women and 5% of them men.
More than 60% of victims of violence and harassment at work “said it has happened to them multiple times, and for most, the last incident occurred in the last five years,” according to the report.
The research also found that people who experienced discrimination at some point in their lives based on gender, disability status, nationality, ethnicity, skin color or religion were more likely to experience violence or harassment at work than those who did not. such discrimination.
The three organizations said that “statistics on violence and harassment in the world of work are sporadic and scarce”, so the ILO joined Lloyd’s and Gallup to carry out “the first global exploratory exercise to measure the own experiences of people”. The survey used data from the 2021 Lloyd’s Register Foundation Global Risk Survey, which was part of the Gallup World Poll.
The results pave the way for future research, the organizations said.
“Ultimately, stronger evidence will help shape more effective laws, policies and practices that promote prevention measures, address specific risk factions and root causes, and ensure that victims are not left alone in handling these unacceptable events. ”, said the ILO, Lloyds and Gallup. .
