Bermuda Employers’ Council is to put extra effort into tackling sexual harassment after a poll revealed that a quarter of women and 18 percent of men have suffered it at work.

The survey, conducted by Global Research, asked 400 residents during telephone interviews in late April and early May if they had ever experienced sexual harassment, such as inappropriate comments or gestures, in the workplace.

Overall, 22 percent of respondents said they had and the responses were similar across every age range — with 23 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds answering yes; 21 percent of 35 to 44-year-olds; 23 percent of 45 to 54-year-olds; 20 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds and 21 percent of over-65s.

Keith Jensen, president of the BEC, told The Royal Gazette that the council deplored sexual harassment in the workplace and supported and encouraged best practices in employment.

“As a result of the survey data, the BEC will be putting more effort in sexual harassment matters by: improving management awareness of their responsibilities; refocusing supervisory/management training; and providing assistance to firms who investigate complaints,” he said. “We will be in contact with the Human Rights Commission to assist us in this regard.”

He described the 22 percent figure as “high” but pointed out that the question potentially covered a long time frame, as it asked if respondents had “ever” suffered harassment.

Mr Jensen noted that the Human Rights Act defines sexual harassment as when a person “engages in sexual comment or sexual conduct towards that other person which is vexatious and which he knows or ought reasonably to know is unwelcomed”.

Mr Jensen added: “Sexual attention from one person to another which is unwarranted, unwelcomed and unsolicited at the workplace should be reported to the employer, who has a duty to ensure that all persons are allowed to work without the fear of sexual harassment.

“Persons found guilty under the Human Rights Act may be fined up to $5,000 and up to $15,000 for a second or subsequent offence and it may include imprisonment.

“Responsible employers include policies against sexual harassment at the workplace in their employee handbooks and they enforce those policies. Careful investigation of allegations needs to be conducted before disciplinary action is taken.”

Lisa Reed, executive officer of the Human Rights Commission, said: “Above all, the best means of tackling sexual harassment in the workplace is prevention.

“This is best achieved by creating an environment where hostile, intimidating, degrading, humiliating or offensive sexual behaviours are simply not tolerated and where a culture of respect and duty toward an organisational culture of inclusion is honoured.

“The Human Rights Commission has been approached by organisations to address issues of sexual harassment or harassment broadly, after an alleged incident or organisational crisis, and we would urge organisations to be proactive and ensure that they have developed and communicated their zero-tolerance toward sexual harassment in the workplace to all employees.”

Patrice Frith-Hayward, executive director of the Women’s Resource Centre, said the poll made interesting reading but may not reveal the true scale of the problem.

“I suspect the numbers are probably higher as we believe people fear actually reporting because they are either embarrassed or unsure if they are actually being harassed, as these cases are not always clear, with covert comments and actions being made,” she said.

“In these financially challenging times, people also fear reprisal as a result of speaking out, especially with the threat of losing jobs, positions or ‘benefits’ looming and basically suffer in silence. “

Ms Frith-Hayward added: “I am a bit surprised by the amount of men who have admitted to being sexually harassed. I would be interested in the gender of the harassers in these cases.”

She said companies needed to have clear policies regarding sexual harassment and needed to ensure the policies were enforced so that employees were protected. “The problem with that is sometimes we must ask who is checking the ‘checker’. Meaning, sometimes the person responsible for ensuring the policy is enforced is the culprit.

“During our recent Sexual Assault Awareness Month events, we repeatedly asked employers to ensure such a policy was not only in place but enforced.

“We can only hope we raised significant awareness around this troubling issue. The Women’s Resource Centre will continue to do our part in speaking up for victims of any form of sexual misconduct.”

Eighty percent of men and 74 percent of women answered ‘no’ to the question, while two percent of men and one percent of women refused to answer.

Global Research said its poll was weighted to be representative of the Island’s population in terms of gender, age, race and education.

The margin of error was +/- five percent at the 95 percent confidence level, meaning if the poll was run 100 times — asking a different sample of people each time — the overall percentage of people who responded the same way would remain within five percent of the original result in at least 95 of those 100 polls.

To find out more about your rights in relation to sexual harassment contact the HRC on 295-5859, visit 12 Mechanics Building, 11 Church Street (third floor) or e-mail humanrights@gov.bm.