Nine in ten women have sufferwed some form of sexual discrimination in the work place, a study has found. A vast majority of women workers have experienced "gender harassment", which includes offensive sexist remarks or being told that they could not do their job properly due to their gender or sex.
This more common, low level sexist behaviour is just as damaging and distressing as forward advances, experts say.
The researchers found that 10 percent of the women surveyed had experienced the most severe form of harassment, in which they were promised promotion or better treatment if they were "sexually cooperative".
The study questioned women in two male dominated environments - the U.S. military and the legal profession. It found that although few were subjected to actual advances, such as being groped, 90 percent had been subjected to gender harassment. This included offensive remarks about being female, their appearance, body or sexual activities.
The findings, in Springer's Journal of Law and Human Behavior, concluded that harassment victims fared poorly at work.
