A recent survey revealed some shocking information: a staggering 20 percent of all employees have been the victim of sexual harassment over the last five years, according to the Human Rights Commission.
During the course of four months, researchers discovered that approximately 33 percent of women and 10 percent of men let their superiors know that they were the target of someone else's inappropriate and lewd behavior.
"Four out of five perpetrators are male, although we did find that targets of sexual harassment, the overwhelming majority were women, but also there's a growing group of men who are sexually harassed in the workplace," said Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick in a statement.
Interestingly enough, the type of harassment that men endured was different than the kind that women experienced. Broderick reported that male targets were less likely to have stereotypical macho qualities – they are more prone to be into the arts than sports and are more often than not outsiders within the company.
Although the statistics regarding the number of sexual harassment instances was discouraging, the survey did reveal that more victims are reporting the behavior than ever before. In 2011, 20 percent of those who were targeted reported their situation to their boss, which is up 4 percent from 2008.
Regardless of how many people are victims, sexual harassment is never acceptable no matter what your job, age or ethnicity is. If you've been targeted and live in Missouri, you may benefit from a consultation with Kansas City attorneys. These locally based and experienced professionals can assess your claim, try your case in court and help you recover damages you may be entitled to.