Sexual Harassment Victimization Decreased Compared to 3 Years Ago... Impact of Reduced Company Dinners and Remote Work

4.7% Experience Workplace Sexual Harassment, Down 3.3%p from 3 Years Ago
Occurrence Locations: Office > Company Gatherings... Online Harassment in Group Chats Also 4.7%
92.6% of Cases Received Institutional Action After Official Response

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace have decreased compared to three years ago. This is largely due to fewer company dinners and an increase in remote work. The proportion of respondents who reported experiencing harassment in group chat rooms or on social media also reached 5%.

According to the "2021 Sexual Harassment Survey" released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the 7th, 4.8% of respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment at least once during their employment over the past three years, a 3.3 percentage point decrease compared to the previous survey in 2018. The rate of female victims was 7.9%, higher than the overall average.

The most common locations where sexual harassment occurred were inside the office (41.8%) and at company dinners (31.5%). In the previous survey, company dinners (43.7%) were more common than inside the office (36.8%).

Due to COVID-19, company dinners and team-building events decreased by 90.4%, leading to an overall reduction in harassment experiences. The proportion of those who experienced harassment online, such as in group chat rooms, messengers, or social media, was 4.7%. The "online" category was included for the first time in this survey.

Jang Hyun-kyung, Director of the Rights Support Division at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, explained, "In the previous survey, 'company dinner locations' were more common than 'inside the office' as harassment sites, but the order has reversed due to the impact of COVID-19. The decrease in sexual harassment appears to be the result of a combination of increased gender sensitivity and changes in the work environment."

Perpetrators of sexual harassment were mostly superiors (54.9%) and heads of institutions or business owners (3.5%), totaling 58.4%. Peers accounted for a significant portion as well (24.0%). Most perpetrators were male (80.2%). Compared to the previous survey, the proportion of superiors (excluding heads of institutions and business owners) was 61.1%, slightly higher than in this survey.

About half of those who experienced sexual harassment reported negative effects from the incident, such as disappointment with their workplace (20.5%) and decreased job satisfaction (19.0%).

At the time of the incident, victims most commonly acted as if nothing had happened (43.6%) or changed the subject or avoided the situation (33.0%). The most common response to harassment was to endure it (66.7%). The reasons given included thinking it was a problem that could be overlooked (59.8%), concern about discomfort with the perpetrator (33.3%), and the belief that the institution or organization would ignore the issue even if reported (22.2%).

In cases where official action was taken, 92.6% reported that the institution responded. The proportion of those who said no appropriate action was taken decreased to 7.4%, down from 10.8% three years ago. Measures taken against perpetrators included separation of spaces and changes in duties (46.3%), while protective measures for victims such as counseling, leave, or transfer of work or department accounted for 40.5%. In the previous survey, investigations of perpetrators (32.7%) and disciplinary actions (25.4%) were more common, indicating an increase in victim protection measures.

Twenty point seven percent of respondents reported experiencing secondary harm due to negative reactions or behaviors from those around them regarding the sexual harassment. The perpetrators of secondary harm were mostly superiors (55.7%) and colleagues (40.4%), reversing the order from the 2018 survey. The most common response to secondary harm was to endure it (57.9%), while a significant number also handled it personally by demanding apologies or similar actions (27.5%).

The survey results showed that the most necessary policies to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace were victim protection (32.7%) and organizational culture improvement (19.6%). For improving organizational culture, the most needed policies were strengthening sexual harassment prevention education (27.3%) and improving personnel systems to eradicate gender discrimination and promote gender equality (17.4%).

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to pursue legal amendments to strengthen regulations requiring heads of institutions and managers to implement measures for victim protection. Through education and awareness-raising on how to respond when witnessing sexual harassment, bystanders within institutions will be encouraged to actively support victims.

Director Jang Hyun-kyung stated, "The Framework Act on Gender Equality includes a general provision in Article 30 to protect victims comprehensively, but unlike the Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation, it does not directly impose an obligation on employers to implement protective measures for victimized workers. We are preparing amendments to legislate the obligation of heads of institutions and managers to implement victim protection measures under the Framework Act and the Sexual Violence Punishment Act."

Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, said, "The Ministry will strictly address sexual harassment in the public sector, including power-based sexual crimes. We will strengthen one-stop support for victims so they can report and respond without hesitation, and make more meticulous efforts to ensure appropriate handling of cases within institutions through organizational culture improvement and training for public institution grievance counselors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.