2018 BACPoll: 4 of 10 Have Witnessed Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Almost four out of 10 Bay Area voters say they have witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace and a quarter say they’ve personally experienced sexual harassment on the job, according to results of the 2018 Bay Area Council Poll, which explored attitudes on a range of workplace issues.
Noticeable differences emerged among men and women. The poll found 41 percent of women say they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace compared to just 11 percent of men. And 44 percent of women voters say they have witnessed bad behavior compared to 32 percent among men.
“The #MeToo movement has helped end the silence on sexual harassment and discrimination, but we have a lot of work to do to stamp it out completely,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “The disparity between how men and women experience the issue is very concerning and shows that our work remains ahead of us.”
Still, an overwhelming 91 percent said they feel safe from sexual harassment at their current job and another 82 percent trust their employer to handle sexual harassment complaints appropriately, the poll found.
And while high numbers of both men and women say they feel safe from sexual harassment in their current job and trust that their employer will handle complaints in the right way, women are more likely than men to feel threatened and believe their complaints won’t be handled appropriately.
It is difficult to draw any conclusions from the results about the prevalence of sexual harassment within industries given the smaller sample size of each group. The poll found 16 percent of workers in the presumably male-dominated tech industry reported experiencing sexual harassment, the second lowest behind trade workers and much lower than the 35 percent in education and nonprofit fields.
On pay equity, the poll found 82 percent agree their employer attempts to pay fairly regardless of gender or ethnicity. There was only a small difference between the sexes, with 79 percent of women saying pay is handled fairly and 85 percent of men. Along ethnic lines, 88 percent of Latinos agree their employers attempt to pay fairly regardless of gender or ethnicity while 82 percent of whites and 81 percent of Asians believe that.
Findings among voters on several other workforce related questions include:
- 33 percent expect a significant labor shortage in the next three years while 31 percent say there will be no shortage.
- 66 percent have a favorable view of the business community
- 83 percent say they are happy in their current job
- 80 percent say they plan to remain in their current industry for at least the next five years
The 2018 Bay Area Council Poll, which was conducted online by Oakland-based public opinion research firm EMC Research from March 20 through April 3, surveyed 1,000 registered voters from around the nine-county Bay Area about a range of issues related to economic growth, housing and transportation, drought, education and workforce.
