Florida women may experience workplace sexual harassment regardless of their occupations. A study released on Aug. 11 showed that women who work in advertising might be particularly vulnerable to workplace sexual harassment. In a summary of its research findings, industry trade group 4A said that over 50 percent of the female advertising workers it surveyed said that they had been sexually harassed.
Researchers who conducted the study asked approximately 400 female advertising employees to answer questions about workplace sexual harassment. More than 75 percent of the women who were surveyed worked in middle and senior management. While half of the women said that they had experienced some sexual harassment on the job, one-third said that perceived bias had caused them to be passed over for a job assignment at some point. Forty percent of survey participants said that they were excluded from decision-making processes because of perceived bias.
The study’s preliminary findings were released ahead of a full report that is due to come out sometime in the fall. 4A said that it wanted to publish the results of its research early because sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the advertising industry are being talked about a lot lately. In July, the executive chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi got a lot of negative attention for saying that the lack of women leaders in advertising can be blamed on a lack of ambition.
When sexual harassment and gender discrimination causes people to be passed over for a promotion or lose their job, they may be able to pursue financial compensation for the unfair treatment. Before filing a claim, they may want to obtain sexual harassment legal assistance so that they can be sure their allegations are backed up with a strong collection of evidence.
