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Association between Experiences of Different Types of Harassment or Derogatory Treatment and Sexual Harassment among Employees at a Large Swedish University

Pilgaard, Frida LU ; Agardh, Anette LU orcid ; Östergren, Per Olof LU and Priebe, Gisela LU (2023) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20(1).
Abstract

Sexual harassment (SH) and other forms of mistreatment continue to be a significant problem at workplaces, leading to negative health and work-related outcomes. Previous studies have mainly examined SH and other types of workplace harassment separately. In this study we investigated whether harassment related to any of the seven Swedish legal grounds for discrimination (sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation, or age) and derogatory treatment were associated with SH at a large Swedish university. Using cross-sectional survey data obtained from 33% of all staff, multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate associations between harassment,... (More)

Sexual harassment (SH) and other forms of mistreatment continue to be a significant problem at workplaces, leading to negative health and work-related outcomes. Previous studies have mainly examined SH and other types of workplace harassment separately. In this study we investigated whether harassment related to any of the seven Swedish legal grounds for discrimination (sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation, or age) and derogatory treatment were associated with SH at a large Swedish university. Using cross-sectional survey data obtained from 33% of all staff, multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate associations between harassment, derogatory treatment, and SH. We found a sixfold increased risk of SH among women with experience of other forms of harassment and a three-times-higher risk among women with experience of derogatory treatment, indicating that SH co-occurs with other forms of mistreatment. This pattern was similar among men, although men reported lower prevalence of mistreatment. Our findings have implications for preventive strategies at academic workplaces indicating that issues related to the defence of power and various types of abusive behaviours, including SH, both need to be addressed to create more equal opportunities for all employees.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
academy, derogatory treatment, gender, harassment, sexual harassment, university employees, women’s health, workplace
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
20
issue
1
article number
11
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • pmid:36612332
  • scopus:85146046437
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
10.3390/ijerph20010011
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
624893d5-247a-47bb-9969-40f97fb983fc
date added to LUP
2023-02-16 15:23:06
date last changed
2024-06-23 10:44:52
@article{624893d5-247a-47bb-9969-40f97fb983fc,
  abstract     = {{<p>Sexual harassment (SH) and other forms of mistreatment continue to be a significant problem at workplaces, leading to negative health and work-related outcomes. Previous studies have mainly examined SH and other types of workplace harassment separately. In this study we investigated whether harassment related to any of the seven Swedish legal grounds for discrimination (sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation, or age) and derogatory treatment were associated with SH at a large Swedish university. Using cross-sectional survey data obtained from 33% of all staff, multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate associations between harassment, derogatory treatment, and SH. We found a sixfold increased risk of SH among women with experience of other forms of harassment and a three-times-higher risk among women with experience of derogatory treatment, indicating that SH co-occurs with other forms of mistreatment. This pattern was similar among men, although men reported lower prevalence of mistreatment. Our findings have implications for preventive strategies at academic workplaces indicating that issues related to the defence of power and various types of abusive behaviours, including SH, both need to be addressed to create more equal opportunities for all employees.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pilgaard, Frida and Agardh, Anette and Östergren, Per Olof and Priebe, Gisela}},
  issn         = {{1661-7827}},
  keywords     = {{academy; derogatory treatment; gender; harassment; sexual harassment; university employees; women’s health; workplace}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{Association between Experiences of Different Types of Harassment or Derogatory Treatment and Sexual Harassment among Employees at a Large Swedish University}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010011}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph20010011}},
  volume       = {{20}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}