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Sexism In The Workplace Is Perpetuated By Cultural Values

Sexism In The Workplace Is Perpetuated By Cultural Values

03.03.2015 20:17

Around half of employed Germans have been sexually harassed or discriminated against in the workplace, according to a new study. The reasons, along with the answers, lie in societal structures, the report says. One of my superiors once told me how he would take groups of male business associates visiting.

Around half of employed Germans have been sexually harassed or discriminated against in the workplace, according to a new study. The reasons, along with the answers, lie in societal structures, the report says.



One of my superiors once told me how he would take groups of male business associates visiting from out of town to a brothel. It was a tradition that had started before his time, he said. It was simply done in the male world of business networking.



This brought a number of questions to mind, but one in particular: If this is the playing field, how can women ever get ahead? I wondered if this was indicative of a culture of discrimination and sexual harassment.



According to a study published on March 3 by Germany's federal anti-discrimination office, sexual harassment is rampant in the workplace. Half of all people polled have experienced it. The forms of harassment vary, as described in the table below, but are mostly verbal.



Anne Wizorek, a German feminist who contributes to the #Aufschrei campaign on Twitter and the blog "kleinerdrei.org," which "is not a fashion blog," as it specifically points out, said women suffer psychologically from harassment because they know it can happen at any time. "They aren't just isolated cases. And knowing that adds psychological stress. Studies show that a lot of the women become depressed and cannot do their jobs properly anymore and they especially don't feel like they have many career options. And all of that creates added stress in one's everyday life."



What is it?



Anyone today with access to the Internet can easily find out what constitutes sexual harassment. There is even an entry on Wikipedia, according to which, "sexual harassment is a form of harassment which especially targets a person's gender." Nonetheless, there seem to be misunderstandings as to what it really is. When the March 3 poll was conducted, the respondents were first asked whether they had ever experienced sexual harassment. Only 17 percent of women and seven percent of men said that they had been. But when the poll asked more specific questions based on examples, it found that around half of respondents had in fact experienced some form of it. The poll also found that around 50 percent of people didn't know where to report such incidents at work.



"Victims must seek help and employers must facilitate this," said the head of the federal anti-discrimination office Christine Lüders. "But it seems that staff departments in various public and private sector companies are not aware of this," she added. So to spread awareness, her office has devoted itself to the "equal rights for every gender" campaign this year, which will put on a number of events to get the message out there.



To seek help and be bullied or to shut up?



Bettina Burkart, who has worked as



 
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