Sexual harassment widespread in workplaces

Posted on : 2012-01-19 09:30 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Study notes increase in violations of basic labor laws

By Lee You-jin

According to Korean Women Link's analysis of 300 counseling cases handled by the organization in 2011, 100 cases, or 33 percent, were related to sexual harassment within the workplace. These cases accounted for the largest portions of claims. In 44% of the sexual harassment cases, the perpetrators were either the employers or senior employees.
Many different types of sexual harassment were reported, such as senior worker’s whispering inappropriate comments and employers asking women to go hiking without anyone else as part of the interview process. In addition, there were numerous cases where those who reported these improper actions suffered negative consequences.
It has also been reported that sexual harassment within workplaces has adverse effects on victims’ health. Korean Women Link dealt with women who have been regularly taking sedatives after being sexually harassed from senior employees, as well as women who have reported respiratory difficulties during the evening after being humiliated by co-workers.
There were 52 cases of complaints about layoffs and disadvantages related to pregnancy and maternity leave, or 17 percent, taking second place overall. In those cases women were ignored and asked to leave the job after having reported their pregnancy. Some companies gave hard tasks to pregnant women on purpose and others removed women from management positions during maternity leave or withheld pay raises after returning to work from leave.
The portion of counseling cases regarding unjust layoffs, delay in payment and working environment was the highest over the past three years. Counseling related to basic labor rights has risen consistently from 19% of all claims in 2009 to 21% in 2010 and 25% in 2011.
(Translated by Kim Joon-ki, Intern)

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