Sexual Harassment: Prevalence, Outcomes, and Gender Differences Assessed by Three Different Estimation Methods

Abstract

This study investigates gender differences in prevalence and effects of sexual harassment using three different estimation methods. In a representative sample of 2,349 Norwegian employees, 1.1% self-labeled as targets of sexual harassment, whereas 18.4% reported exposure to sexually harassing behaviors during the last six months. When employing latent class cluster analysis as a method for estimating prevalence of sexual harassment, 2.2% could be classified as targets of frequent harassment and 19.1% could be classified as targets of unwanted sexual attention. Although more women than men self-labeled as targets of sexual harassment, men reported the same number of sexually harassing behaviors as women. Sexual harassment was found to be significantly related to mental health problems and low job satisfaction among men and women.

KEYWORDS:

• gender differences
• latent class cluster analysis
• outcomes
• prevalence
• sexual harassment

Acknowledgments

This study was based on data from a collaborative project between the University of Bergen and Statistics Norway (Statistisk Sentralbyrå), where the latter institution drew the sample and collected the data. The project was made possible by joint grants from two Norwegian employers' associations (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon and Kommunenes Sentralforbund) and the Norwegian government (NAV, Farve). Thanks to Bengt Oscar Lagerstrøm and Maria Høstmark from Statistics Norway, and Stig Berge Matthiesen and Anders Skogstad at the Department of Psychosocial Science at the University of Bergen for their contribution.