"40% of Victims Endure or Ignore Workplace Harassment Without Reporting... Serious Concerns Over Secondary Victimization"

Workplace Gapjil 119 Surveyed 1,000 Office Workers
40% “Endured or Pretended Not to Notice Sexual Harassment”

Seven out of ten office workers believe there is a high risk of secondary victimization if they report sexual crimes in the workplace.

On September 6, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced the results of its survey, "Experience of Sexual Crimes in the Workplace and Awareness of Secondary Victimization," which was conducted by the professional polling agency Global Research. The survey, conducted from August 1 to August 7, included 1,000 office workers aged 19 and older from across the country.

According to the survey results, 72.3% of respondents believed that there is a high likelihood of secondary victimization if sexual crimes are reported or issues are raised in the workplace. The most common reason given, at 37.2%, was the belief that separation measures for the perpetrator or protective measures for the victim would not be properly implemented.

This was followed by responses such as "because there is an atmosphere that places some of the blame on the victim as well" (36.2%) and "because disciplinary action or measures against the perpetrator may not be properly enforced" (30.2%). The survey also showed that 77% of women were concerned about secondary victimization, which was higher than the rate among men.

Secondary victimization was found to affect not only those directly involved, but also the decision-making of colleagues who witnessed such incidents. When asked whether witnessing a colleague's secondary victimization would affect their own willingness to report issues in the future, 65.4% responded affirmatively.

Regarding measures to prevent secondary victimization, the highest proportion of respondents (48.6%) said that there is a need to establish strict disciplinary standards for perpetrators and those who engage in secondary victimization. The next most common response was the need for prompt and decisive separation from the perpetrator (46.5%).

One in five respondents, or 20.3%, said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Among those, 40.9% said they either endured it or pretended not to notice. Regarding the status of the perpetrator, 32.5% identified a direct supervisor (not an executive) as the perpetrator, followed by colleagues of the same rank (23.6%) and the employer (14.8%). The percentage of respondents who had experienced sexual assault or molestation at work was 15.4%, and 13.9% reported having experienced stalking. However, only 59.2% believed that their company would protect them from workplace sexual crimes.

Workplace Bullying 119 pointed out, "Although the law stipulates obligations to protect victims and discipline perpetrators, these are not functioning properly in practice." The group also emphasized, "Organizational cultures that dismiss sexual crimes as simple interpersonal conflicts or treat whistleblowers as troublemakers must also change." They continued, "It is necessary to focus not only on disciplining perpetrators, but also on post-incident monitoring and organizational culture reform to ensure the safe return of victims and prevent recurrence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.