An international survey conducted by Ipsos for the L’Oréal Foundation on Thursday found that almost half of women scientists worldwide have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace during their careers.
According to this survey, which included nearly 5,000 male and female researchers in 117 countries, 49% of female researchers said they had “personally experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment during their professional career”, almost half of them – after the start of the study. MeToo anti-sexual harassment movement in 2017.
For 65% of affected women, this attitude has had a negative impact on their careers across the continents of the world.
However, one in five victims reported such violence in the institution they work for, according to this survey of women working in science (excluding the social sciences), technology, engineering and mathematics in 50 public and private institutions.
The questionnaire included descriptions of several situations, as 25% of the women scientists interviewed reported receiving “inappropriate and frequent” remarks, and also indicated that they were asked “intrusive and frequent questions” about their personal or sexual life that “cause them discomfort” . “.
Most of the incidents happened early in his career. This negatively affected scientific professions, as 52% of those affected said they “avoided certain employees” for these reasons, and 25% thought they were “at risk in the workplace”.
And 64% of the surveyed scientists (both men and women) regretted not taking action to combat sexual harassment at work.
“This survey confirms that science hasn’t been revolutionized enough since the #MeToo movement,” Alexandra Balt, CEO of the L’Oréal Foundation, told AFP.
The Foundation, which supports the careers of women scientists around the world with UNESCO, calls on institutions to “take responsibility and change their behaviour”; He also calls for a “zero tolerance policy” for these violations and “budgetary commitments” to that effect.
The study was conducted by the Ipsos Institute by consultation method from July 26 to September 16, 2022.
