50% of young people face inappropriate behavior at work; Especially women in hospitality
Half of young people who have or had a part-time job experienced inappropriate behavior like sexual comments, threats, or bullying at work. Young women in the hospitality industry are the most frequent targets, EenVandaag found in a survey of 1,500 people aged 16 to 35 on its 3Vraagt panel.
A massive 72 percent of young women who work or worked in hospitality experienced inappropriate behavior at work. They mentioned unwanted touching, unsolicited comments, physical aggression, and discrimination.
Unwanted comments, for example, about their appearance or with a sexual undertone, were the most common form of inappropriate behavior aimed at young workers. One respondent told how their boss said “Wow, you can really suck, can’t you?” while they were vaccuuming something.
Around 30 percent of young people experienced insults and threats. One in seven were faced with physically transgressive behavior, including hitting and unwanted touching.
Colleagues (52 percent) and managers (46 percent) are the most common sources of inappropriate behavior for young people. Young workers in the hospitality sector also often named customers as the perpetrators. “In a restaurant where I worked, a regular customer always came alone, got drunk, and attacked the staff. He hit us on the buttocks, tried to kiss us. My manager looked the other way, because that man was a regular customer. Really not normal,” one respondent said.
Half of the young workers who experienced transgressive behavior did not report it, mostly because they thought there was no point. People who did come forward also often believe their employers did not protect them sufficiently afterward.
About half of young people don’t dare to speak to a manager if they witness inappropriate behavior. Women feel unsafe broaching the topic more often than men. People find it easier to talk to their equals who work at the same level. About one in eight would not dare to speak up at all.
