Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Front Public Health. 2023 Jan 20;10:1082088. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1082088. eCollection 2022.
Despite their significance, limited research has been conducted on sexual harassment in professional service firms (PSFs).
Survey data were gathered from 321 Belgian employees (155 women, 166 men) of global accounting and law firms. The prevalence of sexual harassment in PSFs based on traditional sexual harassment items and not-man-enough harassment items was reported. Correlations of respondents' experiences with workplace sexual harassment with perceived acceptance of sexual harassment by one's peers (social norms), personality traits, and demographic and job-related factors were examined.
Experiences of workplace sexual harassment were widespread in the current sample: 88.5% of women and 83.3% of men experienced at least once or twice some form of sexual harassment at work during the past 24 months. The most frequent types of sexual harassment reported are examples of (verbal) forms of gender harassment. Instances of traditional harassment were experienced equally often by men and women, while not-man-enough harassment was much more frequently experienced by women. Severe physical sexual harassment was less frequent. Workplace sexual harassment is positively correlated with perceived acceptance of sexual harassment by one's peers and negatively with job level.
Results of the current study align with research that links workplace sexual harassment with workplace culture and suggest that both men and women in PSFs experience enforcement of gender roles. It seems quintessential for firms to create working environments and cultures in which sexual harassment is clearly and unambiguously condemned and sanctioned.
尽管性骚扰在专业服务公司（PSFs）中具有重要意义，但相关研究仍然有限。
本研究通过问卷调查收集了 321 名来自比利时全球会计和律师事务所的员工（155 名女性，166 名男性）的数据。报告了 PSFs 中基于传统性骚扰项目和不够男性化的性骚扰项目的性骚扰发生率。分析了受访者在工作场所遭受性骚扰的经历与同龄人（社会规范）对性骚扰的感知接受程度、人格特质以及人口统计学和工作相关因素之间的相关性。
在当前样本中，工作场所性骚扰的经历非常普遍：88.5%的女性和 83.3%的男性在过去 24 个月中至少经历过一次或两次某种形式的工作场所性骚扰。报告的最常见性骚扰类型是（言语）性别骚扰形式。男性和女性经历传统性骚扰的频率相同，而不够男性化的性骚扰则更为常见。严重的身体性骚扰则较少发生。工作场所性骚扰与同龄人对性骚扰的感知接受程度呈正相关，与工作级别呈负相关。
本研究结果与将工作场所性骚扰与工作场所文化联系起来的研究一致，并表明 PSFs 中的男性和女性都经历了性别角色的执行。对于公司来说，创造一个明确谴责和制裁性骚扰的工作环境和文化至关重要。
