UK Edition
More than half of women in construction have been harassed, study reveals
More than half of women working in construction have experienced harassment or victimisation during their career, according to a new survey, raising fresh concerns about bad behaviour and discrimination in UK workplaces.
The survey, conducted by recruitment consultant Hays, found 55pc of women had suffered sexual discrimination, while 31pc said they had experienced it in the past year.
A majority of women (56pc) said they had experienced harassment or victimisation, compared with 36pc of men. The survey was answered by 600 women and 300 men in November last year.
Ann Bentley, global director for construction consultancy Rider Levett Bucknell, said she was not shocked by the findings.
Ms Bentley told Building magazine, which commissioned the survey: “When you tell most well-meaning men about this kind of thing they’re absolutely staggered, they say ‘no, no, this doesn’t happen anymore’. Women know it does. It only takes a very small number of harassers to have this impact.”
Other findings included just one in five women saying there was equal pay between the sexes at their firms, compared with nearly half of men.
Government data has shown pay gaps are particularly pronounced in occupations such as building supervisors, with shortfalls of anything up to 44pc.
Harassment in the workplace has dominated the news agenda in recent months after allegations about the behaviour of Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein were made.
Polling by Opinium Research in November revealed 20pc of women had experienced sexual harassment in UK workplaces, falling to 7pc for men.
The gender pay gap has also come under scrutiny, with BBC China editor Carrie Gracie's resignation this week over unequal pay highlighting the issue.
Official statistics show the gender pay gap fell to a record low last year, but the average woman still earns 9.1pc less than the average man.
From this April, all firms in the UK with more than 250 staff are required by law to publish annual figures showing the pay gap between their male and female employees.