Fifth of young women face unwanted sexual attention at work

One in five female employees aged 15 to 25 experienced unwanted sexual attention from customers, patients, students, or passengers in 2021, according to the National Working Conditions Survey (NEA) published by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and TNO.

Women are more confronted with unwanted sexual attention than men in all age groups. In 2021, 11 percent of women said they had experienced such problems from customers, patients, students, or passengers, compared to 2 percent of men. Young women report things like misplaced sexual comments or groping most often.

Three percent of women also received unwanted sexual attention from supervisors or colleagues, compared to 1 percent of men. Here too, the percentage is higher among young women at 6 percent.

Nurses with an MBO diploma most often face unwanted sexual attention. Almost 40 percent had this problem last year. These experiences are also common among other healthcare workers, like specialized nurses, carers, and physiotherapists. Cashiers, waiters, and bar staff also report this relatively often.

In the coronavirus year 2020, employees had fewer problems with unwanted sexual attention from customers. But this effect proved temporary, and unwanted sexual attention is back to pre-pandemic levels.

Looking at other forms of unwanted behavior, it is striking that employees relatively often face harassment at work. Last year, 18 percent faced harassment from customers, patients, students, or passengers, and 9 percent from supervisors or colleagues.