Over a third of Amsterdam residents have faced inappropriate behavior at work

37 percent of working Amsterdam residents have experienced inappropriate behavior at work, according to a survey of 15 to 66-year-olds by Amsterdam’s research and statistics agency O+S. Inappropriate behavior is most common in the hospitality and healthcare industries, and women, ethnically diverse people, and young people are overrepresented among the victims.

At 37 percent, Amsterdam residents experience inappropriate behavior such as harassment, bullying, unwanted sexual attention, and physical violence more often than the national average (17 percent). According to O+S, this is likely due to the relatively large number of women, young people, and ethnically diverse people working in Amsterdam.

Harassment is the most common form of inappropriate behavior at work, with 27 percent of Amsterdam residents experiencing this. Bullying follows at 18 percent, then unwanted sexual behavior (11 percent) and physical violence (4 percent). All these inappropriate behaviors are more common in Amsterdam than the national average.

Healthcare workers are most likely to experience inappropriate behavior at work (53 percent). Bad behavior against workers is also common in the hospitality industry (48 percent), government services (44 percent), and retail (40 percent).

In addition to where you work, gender, age, and ethnicity also play a role in whether you will face harassment at work.

46 percent of Amsterdam women have experienced undesirable behavior in the past year, compared to 28 percent of men. Women are three times more likely to experience unwanted sexual attention than men. They’re also more likely to face bullying and harassment.

Unwanted sexual behavior is also more likely to affect younger than older Amsterdam residents. This is especially true for girls and women. A quarter of 15 to 26-year-olds experienced unwanted sexual behavior in the past year, compared to 9 percent of 45 to 66-year-olds.

Ethnically diverse Amsterdammers experience bullying relatively more often. In the past year, 21 percent were bullied at work, compared to 14 percent of workers without an immigration background.