Violence in the workplace: Women and frontline workers face higher risks
Women and frontline workers are most exposed to the risks of adverse social behaviour at work, such as burnout, exhaustion, anxiety and depression. This is according to the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021 (EWCTS). In this data story, we dive into EWCTS data (EU27) to examine the prevalence of adverse social behaviour in the workplace - also known as ‘violence in the workplace’ - and the health and well-being implications it has for those who experience it.
Women more likely to experience adverse social behaviour, particularly unwanted sexual attention
The EWCTS found that, on average, 12.5% of workers in the EU experienced some form of adverse social behaviour at work in 2021; [1] however, the share of women experiencing adverse social behaviour at work was consistently higher than that of men.
While this is the case for all forms of adverse social behaviour covered in the survey, the gender gap is particularly striking when it comes to unwanted sexual attention.
Women are 3.6 times more likely to suffer from unwanted sexual attention than men. What’s more, the likelihood of a young woman (18–34 years) reporting unwanted sexual attention is three times higher than men of the same age, and 10 times higher than the oldest group of men (50+ years).
Women aged 50+ are 3.5 times less likely to report unwanted sexual attention than women aged 18–34 (1.6% compared with 5.6%).
Frontline workers most exposed to adverse social behaviour
While the EWCTS reveals that people who deal with customers are twice as likely to experience adverse social behaviour at work compared to those who don’t, the situation is particularly acute for frontline workers.
Healthcare workers reported up to three times higher levels of unwanted sexual attention than the EU average (5.7% compared with 1.7%). To put this in perspective, just 0.3% of information and communication (IC) professionals reported unwanted sexual attention.
Both healthcare and protective services workers (including fire-fighters, police officers, prison and security guards) reported 2–3 times higher levels of bullying, harassment and violence than the EU average.
A variety of frontline workers reported verbal abuse or threats, some as high as 2.5 times the EU average.
Agnès Parent-Thirion
Senior research managerAgnès Parent-Thirion este manager senior de cercetare în cadrul unității de viață profesională a Eurofound, însărcinată cu planificarea, dezvoltarea și punerea în aplicare a proiectelor de cercetare privind condițiile de muncă, în special a Sondajului european privind condițiile de muncă (EWCS) și a analizelor sale. Este responsabilă pentru ediția extraordinară a EWCS 2021 și pentru pregătirea chestionarului pentru EWCS 2024. Interesele sale de cercetare includ condițiile de muncă, calitatea locurilor de muncă, monitorizarea condițiilor de muncă, organizarea muncii, genul, viitorul muncii și timpul. Lucrează în domeniul studiilor comparative europene de mai bine de un deceniu, în toate aspectele, inclusiv proiectarea, dezvoltarea chestionarelor, munca pe teren, controlul calității și analiza. Este absolventă de economie și management de la universitățile Paris IX Dauphine și Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne și deține o diplomă postuniversitară în statistică de la Trinity College Dublin. Ea a absolvit recent cursuri online despre inteligența artificială: leadership bazat pe cercetare cu MIT Sloan Executive Education și "Les grand enjeux de la transition: re-ouvrir l'horizon, comprendre pour agir" cu Campus de la Transition. Înainte de a se alătura Eurofound, a lucrat mai mulți ani în Comisia Europeană.
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