Facts: The report in brief
Sexual harassment is defined in the report as conduct of a sexual nature that violates someone’s dignity.
Almost 39,000 people at 38 Swedish universities answered questions: Students, doctoral students, employees.
The survey was conducted by Statistics Sweden in May-July 2021. The response rate was 32 percent.
Four percent answered that they had been subjected to sexual harassment, ie undesirable sexual attention, at work or study in the past twelve months.
However, the answers differed: Younger people answered yes to a greater extent than older people. According to the answers, women are more vulnerable than men. Students are more vulnerable than doctoral students and doctoral students are more vulnerable than employees.
Eight percent answered that they had seen others being exposed.
Among those who said they had been subjected to sexual harassment, only 14 percent of women and eight percent of men had made a formal report.
The most common answer to why the report was not made was that “it was not so serious” (women) and “I handled it myself” (men). Women responded more than men: “It had made no difference” and “I was afraid it would affect me negatively”.
Another part of the study listed eleven examples of unwanted sexual attention. The question here was whether one had been exposed at least once to any of these behaviors, not only in the past year but at some point, in one’s work or during one’s studies.
On average, 38 percent answered yes.
The behaviors that most of the respondents said they had been exposed to were uncomfortable or unpleasant questions about privacy, that someone looked at them in an unpleasant or uncomfortable way, and comments about age or appearance.
In total, almost 39,000 students, doctoral students and employees at 38 higher education institutions responded, and an average of four percent of them (equivalent to about 1,500 people) stated that they had been exposed to unwanted sexual attention or harassment in the past year.
According to the answers, women are more vulnerable than men. Younger people are more vulnerable than older people. Doctoral students and students are more vulnerable than employees.
– Yes, it was about as I thought, but I am very happy that we now actually know, says Karin Dahlman-Wright, professor at Karolinska Institutet.
Facts on the table are the first step towards change, she states. There is now a baseline to compare with when you later have to follow up on whether various measures have had an effect.
– It is a very important issue to have a good work environment where men and women are treated in the same way. It is a matter of course in the 2020s and a prerequisite for us to be able to recruit in the future.
Hard to compare
The question that was asked was: Have you during the last twelve months been exposed to unwanted sexual attention at work / your place of study?
Among those employed at universities and colleges, the exposure to such unwanted attention is roughly on a par with what it looks like in other parts of the labor market (two per cent).
The responses from doctoral students and students indicate a greater vulnerability (three and five percent, respectively), but here there is nothing to compare with in the rest of society.
The types of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual attention that most respond to that they have been subjected to based on a sample list are uncomfortable or unpleasant looks, uncomfortable or unpleasant questions about privacy and comments about age or appearance.
Among the respondents, 38 percent had at some point been exposed to some type of unwanted sexual attention that was on the sample list, in their work or during their studies.
– We see that colleagues expose colleagues and that students expose students, but there is still someone who is responsible for the work environment and study environment. Then everyone who can influence it must take their responsibility, says Anna Wahl, professor at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).
Increased awareness
While four percent answer that they themselves have been exposed in the past year, eight percent have seen others being exposed. Anna Wahl believes that metoo may have increased awareness and made more people observant of this type of behavior.
– It is an important thing that you can work with prevention: How do we ensure that even more people become observant and above all not only look at but also know what to do? says Anna Wahl.
According to the survey, few of those who feel that they have been subjected to sexual harassment have made a report: 14 percent of women and 8 percent of men.
“Not so serious”
In the case of women, many answer that it was not so serious and among men who did not report, the most common answer is that they handled the situation themselves. More women than men answer that it would not have mattered if they reported.
This is about creating working routines for reporting, points out Karin Dahlman-Wright.
– Do we have a culture where you think it does not matter if I report? This is something we have been working on routines for for years. Of course, there are things in our culture, in our leadership and our co-operation that we can work with.
Behind the report are Malmö University, KI, KTH and the National Secretariat for Gender Research.