Sexual harassment is “endemic” within the food, drink and agriculture sectors, with as much as a third of women reporting they had been sexually assaulted in the workplace, new research by trade union Unite has claimed.
Part of a wider survey of 6,615 female Unite members across the 19 sectors where it represents staff, the poll also found a “disturbing” 8% had been a victim of sexual coercion – when a person pressures, tricks, threatens, or manipulates someone into engaging in sexual activity without genuine consent – at work.
The poll, which forms a key component of the union’s Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment campaign, additionally revealed that 57% had been the recipient of sexually offensive jokes, 53% had experienced unwanted flirting, gesturing or sexual remarks, almost half (49%) had been inappropriately touched and almost a third (32%) had been shared or shown pornographic images by a manager, colleague or third party.
Of those who had been sexually harassed at work in most occasions it was not a one-off instance, Unite said, with 44% claiming it happened more than twice, while 41% had experienced it more than once.
But amid fears they would not be believed or that their job would be put at risk, almost three quarters (74%) of respondents did not report these incidents, “meaning many perpetrators are left free to offend again”, Unite said.
This came despite the Worker Protection Act 2023 becoming law last October, it added.
Harassment levels are ‘disappointing’
The law means employers “must take measures to prevent sexual harassment from happening in the workplace and at work events such as conferences”. However, Unite said its research showed “this is not being implemented fully and workers in the FDA sector are being failed”.
The survey also found just a quarter (26%) of women working in the sector felt their employer had done enough to promote a sexual harassment zero-tolerance culture within the workplace following the implementation of this legislation.
“Staff safety should be among the highest priorities for employers in food, drink and agriculture but the results of our survey are damning and show women workers in this sector are being failed by bosses,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
“Nobody should suffer sexual harassment in the workplace. Unite is committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach and we will put every employer turning a blind eye on notice,” she added.
“We will fight every step of the way to stamp out workplace harassment once and for all. Every worker deserves a safe working environment and should feel able to report harassment.”
Unite national officer for food, drink and agriculture Paul Travers said: “It is very disappointing to see that women in the sector face such high levels of harassment and that so many feel unable to report incidents or believe they aren’t taken seriously.
“No woman should go to work only to suffer harassment and urgent change is needed in the sector. We will fight every step of the way to ensure Unite’s campaign demands become a reality.”
Unite’s zero tolerance demands
Unite’s Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment campaign is calling for greater protections “to end the menace of workplace harassment”. Measures include standalone sexual harassment policies, mandatory training on sexual harassment for all employees and for the deadline for being able to make a claim in an employment tribunal to be extended from three months after the incident occurred to six months as a minimum for lodging a claim.
Unite is additionally calling on the government to put in extra legal protections, “for example third party harassment and sexual harassment should be treated by the Health & Safety Executive as a workplace injury”.
“Employers are not taking their obligations seriously despite the fact it is the law,” said Unite national women’s officer Alison Spencer-Scragg.
“The Worker Protection Act has not gone far enough in keeping women who work in the FDA sector safe from sexual harassment at their workplace. This is creating a culture where sexual harassment is going unreported, while those who do take the issues forward are left feeling disbelieved, forced to work with abusers and even losing their roles.”
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