Adverse social behaviour at work and health-related employment exit: a prospective population-based four-wave survey

Workplace-Sexual-Harassment Victimization and Employee Wellbeing Among LGBTQ+ and Non-LGBTQ+ Employees

Workplace sexual harassment represents a critical risk to contemporary organizations, with evidence indicating that its prevalence is increasing. Research has consistently demonstrated that workplace-sexual-harassment victimization exerts negative impacts on employees' health and wellbeing. However, no empirical studies have examined how these impacts vary by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) status. In this study, we leverage a unique survey dataset (2022 Australian Workplace Equality Index Employee Survey, n = 44,943) and random-intercept, multilevel regression models to estimate the relationships between workplace-sexual-harassment victimization and employee wellbeing. Expanding on earlier studies, we consider how these relationships vary between LGBTQ+ and other employees, across domains of employee wellbeing, and with the timing of sexual harassment. Our results reveal large, negative, and statistically significant impacts of sexual harassment on employee wellbeing. The impacts are comparatively larger for LGBTQ+ employees and recent harassment experiences, and manifest across all domains of employee wellbeing. These findings underscore the urgent need for holistic programs to combat workplace sexual harassment, and the importance of connecting these programs with diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Gender-based violence and harassment at work and health and occupational outcomes. A systematic review of prospective studies

BACKGROUND

Many people experience forms of gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the context of their work. This includes a wide range of experiences, from subtle expressions of hostility to physical assault, that can also be of a sexual nature (e.g., sexual harassment or assault). This systematic review aimed to summarize findings about the prospective associations of work-related GBVH with people's health and occupational situation.

METHODS

We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched for prospective studies in English from 1990 to May 24, 2023. Studies were included if they concerned a working population, exposure to any form of GBVH in the work context, and a health outcome or manifest occupational outcome. Quality was assessed with a modified version of the Cochrane 'Tool to Assess Risk of Bias in Cohort Studies', and studies assessed as low quality were excluded from the narrative synthesis. For the narrative synthesis, we grouped the results by similar exposures and outcomes and reported the strength and statistical significance of the associations.

RESULTS

Of the 1 937 screened records, 29 studies were included in the narrative synthesis. Studies were mainly conducted in the USA and northern Europe and investigated exposure to sexual violence or harassment (SVH). Only two included studies investigated non-sexual kinds of GBVH. Consistently, studies showed associations of work-related SVH with poor mental health and there were indications of an association with hazardous substance use. There was no consistent evidence for an association of SVH with subsequent sickness absence, and there were too few studies concerning physical health and occupational outcomes to synthesize the results.

CONCLUSIONS

There is consistent evidence of work-related SVH as a risk factor for subsequent poor mental health. There is no indication that the health consequences of SVH differ between women and men, although women are more often affected. There is a need for conceptual consistency, the consideration of non-sexual behaviors and prospective studies that test clear hypotheses about the temporal sequence of events.

Gender-based harassment in Swedish workplaces and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality: A prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

The study investigated experiences of different types of work-related gender-based harassment (GBH), specifically sexual and gender harassment, as risk factors for alcohol-related morbidity and mortality (ARMM).

METHODS

Information about experiences of (i) sexual harassment (SH-I) and (ii) gender harassment (GH-I) from inside the organization and (iii) sexual harassment from a person external to the organization (SH-E) were obtained from the Swedish Work Environment Survey 1995-2013, a biannual cross-sectional survey, administered to a representative sample of the Swedish working population. The survey responses from 86 033 individuals were connected to multiple registers containing information about alcohol-related diagnoses, treatment, or cause of death. Cox proportional hazard models were fitted to assess hazard ratios (HR) of incident ARMM during a mean follow-up of eight (SH-I and GH-I) and ten (SH-E) years.

RESULTS

A higher prospective risk estimate of ARMM was found among participants who reported experiences of SH-E [HR 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.61-2.52], GH-I (HR 1.33, CI 1.03-1.70), or SH-I (HR 2.37, CI 1.42-3.00). Additional analyses, distinguishing one-time from reoccurring harassment experiences, indicated a dose-response relationship for all three harassment types. Gender did not modify the associations. Under the assumption of causality, 9.3% (95% CI 5.4-13.1) of the risk of ARMM among Swedish women and 2.1% (95% CI 0.6-3.6) among Swedish men would be attributable to any of the three types of GBH included in this study.

CONCLUSIONS

Experiences of GBH in the work context may be a highly relevant factor in the etiology of ARMM.