Gender sensitivity works in favour of economic growth

livemint.com:

Gender inequality is a global reality. In 2020, women represented only 38.8% of all participants in the labour force (World Bank). One reason is sexual harassment at the workplace, to which “young, financially independent and single women are the most vulnerable" (ILO).

More than one in five people in employment have experienced violence and harassment at work, whether physical, psychological or sexual, according to a 2022 ILO global survey. A study that reviewed national laws on gender equality in 193 countries found that “sexual harassment by co-workers, supervisors or employers, either in the form of sexual behaviour-based or sex-based, may happen at every stage of employment" and it cuts across geographies and occupations. Studies also indicated that it is mostly ( 72% of cases) by someone more senior in the organizational hierarchy.

While men have been victims, women are more than twice at risk of falling prey to gender harassment and sexual abuse. Evidence from past research and individual accounts of the #MeToo movement outline the negative impact of harassment on women’s economic opportunities and career trajectories. It all adds up to a sizeable economic hit.

No less than 75% of the world’s 2.7 billion women (18 years and above) and 600 million men (by a conservative estimate) have been affected by the menace; and its overall financial impact was placed at around $2.8 billion by one study (Chamie, 2018). In case of affected individual women, the lifetime financial costs were estimated from $600 to $1.3 million or more, depending on their earnings (Institute for Women’s Policy Research and Time’s UP Foundation, 2021). Another study of 2.5 million cases found a $2.6 billion loss, with 70% of it borne by employers;