Page 46 - BusinessWest December 8, 2021

Hidden Costs
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Impacts Women Financially
Arecent report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) and the TIME’S UP Foundation shows that workplace sexual harassment has large finan- cial costs and economic consequences.
The report, “Paying Today and Tomorrow: Charting the Financial Costs of Workplace Sexual Harassment, is the first-ever attempt to monetize the lifetime financial costs of sexual harassment to individual women. Among those interviewed, workplace sexual harassment cost individuals anywhere from $600 to $1.3 million or more over a lifetime, depending on the wages of the worker.
The report shows how sexual harassment contributes to the gender wage gap and lim-
its women’s earning potential. These costs
can be seen through job loss and unemploy- ment, lower earnings, missed opportunities for advancement, forced job changes, and loss of critical employer-sponsored benefits like health insurance and pension contributions. The financial impact of workplace sexual harass- ment can be detrimental and long-lasting to those who experience it.
The short-term and long-term impact on the economic security of those working in low-wage jobs can be particularly severe. Workers in low- er-income occupations and those impacted by historical racial and ethnic discrimination were
more likely to be in economically precarious sit- uations without significant savings. A $600 wage loss can quickly translate into increased debts and credit card fees, eviction, homelessness, and food insecurity.
“As employers rethink their post-COVID workplaces, we need to ensure that work — whether it’s remote or in the office — is safe, dignified, and equitable,” said C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of IWPR. “This report shows the different ways sexual harassment impos-
es financial and economic costs to women workers.”
Added Jessica Forden of the TIME’S UP Foundation, “no person should ever choose between reporting sexual harassment or speaking up for themselves while considering whether they might lose their ability to feed their families or take their children to the doc- tor. When we think about the true cost of sexual harassment, we have to think about what’s at stake when women come forward and how this impacts not just them, but everyone around them: their families, communities, and more.”
For every individual interviewed, the experi- ences of harassment were compounded, and the costs magnified, because those who could have addressed the harassment (including supervisors, human resources staff, and col- leagues) failed to act, and, even worse, often
retaliated against the employees who were harassed. Few were able to seek legal advice, being kept away by uncertain immigration sta- tus, lack of funds, or lack of information on their rights.
Based on in-depth interviews with survivors of workplace sexual harassment, as well as with experts, the report charts the detailed pathways that lead to financial costs to individual workers
“As employers rethink their post-COVID workplaces, we need to ensure that work — whether it’s remote or in the office — is safe, dignified, and equitable.
as a result of workplace sexual harassment and retaliation. Key findings from the report include:
• The costs to economic security are par- ticularly profound for workers in low-paid jobs. While lower earnings and lower job quality in many women-dominated service-sector jobs mean that the monetary costs of harassment
Harassment
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46 DECEMBER 8, 2021
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
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