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More than 20% have suffered violence, harassment at work: UN

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Christophe Vogt, Agence France-Presse

<p>GENEVA - More than one in five people in employment worldwide have experienced some form of workplace harassment or violence, according to a survey released by the United Nations on Monday.</p><p>&quot;Violence and harassment at work is a widespread phenomenon around the world,&quot; the UN&#x27;s International Labor Organization said following the ILO&#x27;s joint study with the safety charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation and pollsters Gallup.</p><p>The survey was a first attempt to produce a global overview of the magnitude and frequency of the problem, and the barriers that prevent people from talking about it.</p><p>It found that 22.8 percent -- which would amount to 743 million people in employment -- have experienced &quot;at least one form of violence and harassment at work during their working life&quot;, according to data collected last year.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/04/07/15/us-pinoy-nurses-take-stand-against-workplace-violence">US Pinoy nurses take stand against workplace violence</a></li></ul><p>Nearly a third of victims said they had been subjected to more than one form of violence and harassment, and 6.3 percent had experienced it in all three forms -- physical, psychological and sexual -- during their working life.</p><p>The survey found that fewer than 55 percent of people who experienced it in the past five years had disclosed it to someone else.</p><p>There were several barriers preventing people from coming forward, with &quot;waste of time&quot; and &quot;fear for their reputation&quot; being the most common.</p><p>&quot;Violence and harassment at work is a taboo issue,&quot; said Manuela Tomei, the ILO&#x27;s assistant director-general for governance, rights, and dialogue, told a press conference.</p><p>&quot;In many instances, there are no adequate policies and preventive systems in place, and when they are in place they are distrusted,&quot; she concluded.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/11/12/10/nurses-prone-violence-workplace-cna">Nurses vulnerable to violence in workplace - CNA</a></li></ul><div><strong>PERCEPTIONS OF VIOLENCE</strong></div><p>The survey results were based on interviews with 74,364 workers across 121 countries.</p><p>It was mainly conducted by telephone and the questions were formulated so they could be understood by as many people as possible.</p><p>In China, where government permission was needed, some questions could not be asked; elsewhere authorities had asked that they be adapted.</p><p>The study found that the perception of what constitutes violence or harassment is not the same around the world: in some places, pushing someone could be seen as rude behavior and nothing more.</p><p>Psychological violence and harassment at work were found to be the most common, with 17.9 percent, or 583 million people experiencing it in their working life.</p><p>The survey found that 8.5 percent -- which would amount to 277 million people -- had experienced physical violence and harassment.</p><p>While women are more likely to have suffered psychological violence, men are more often the victims of physical violence, the study found.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/05/22/2022-year-of-living-dangerously">2022: a year of living dangerously</a></li></ul><div><strong>SEXUAL VIOLENCE</strong></div><p>Violence and harassment of a sexual nature have affected 6.3 percent -- approximately one person in every 15 in employment -- with women &quot;particularly exposed&quot;, the ILO said.</p><p>Of the three forms of violence and harassment, it has the biggest gender gap: more than eight percent of women are victims, compared to five percent among men.</p><p>The relatively low figures may reflect that respondents might &quot;feel shame and guilt because they may somehow believe that their behaviour or conduct may have led another person to disrespect them&quot;, said Tomei. </p><p>The survey found that violence and harassment at work could be recurrent and persistent: more than three in five victims said it had happened to them multiple times.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVE</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LfqFLfo1wNk?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

More than one in five people in employment worldwide have experienced some form of workplace harassment or violence, according to a survey released by the United Nations on Monday.

More than 20% have suffered violence, harassment at work: UN

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More than 20% have suffered violence, harassment at work: UN

Christophe Vogt,

Agence France-Presse

Published December 06, 2022 03:39 AM PHT

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United Nations

UN

violence

harassment

workplace

violence at work

harassment at work

labor rights

ILO

International Labor Organization

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