69% of sexual harassment cases in media go unreported: Study

A new multi-country study has found that 69% of sexual harassment cases in media workplaces go unreported, while nearly one-third of media professionals have experienced harassment at work.

The study also shows that women are disproportionately affected, facing 2.4 times more sexual harassment than men, said a press release issued yesterday.

The joint study was conducted by WAN-IFRA Women in News; the City of St George's; the University of London; and BBC Media Action.

It surveyed more than 2,800 media professionals across 21 countries in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab region, and Ukraine.

The study reveals that women are disproportionately affected globally, facing on average 2.4 times more verbal sexual harassment than men and 1.8 times more likely to face online sexual harassment.

Experiences of physical harassment and rape are lower but remain consistent threats.

A quarter of all respondents reported instances of physical harassment, with 5% of women and 4% of men citing they were rape survivors.

"Sexual harassment has a deeply negative impact on those who experience it and the general working atmosphere in newsrooms. 

Research shows that no matter the type of harassment, experiencing it decreases job satisfaction and increases the risk of leaving the industry," says Dr Lindsey Blumell of City St George's, University of London.

According to the study, 29% of respondents—nearly one in three—experienced sexual harassment at work, and 69% of survivors said they did not report the incidents.

Organisations took action in only 65% of reported incidents, often through informal or limited measures.

Susan Makore, managing director of WAN-IFRA Women in News, says, "When the majority of sexual harassment cases continue to go unreported, it signals a deeper failure of workplace culture, trust, and accountability. Sexual harassment in media is not an isolated workplace issue; it is a structural barrier that shapes who feels safe to participate, stay, and lead within journalism."

The study found significant regional disparities, with the prevalence of sexual harassment highest in Africa at 33%, followed by the Arab region at 31%.

Southeast Asia recorded 19%, while Ukraine, included for the first time in such a study, reported 12%.

It also includes countries not previously studied, like Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan, strengthening the global evidence on sexual harassment in media workplaces.

According to the Bangladesh survey of 339 respondents, 17% of media professionals experienced workplace sexual harassment, slightly below the Asian regional average of 19%.

The Bangladesh survey found that female journalists and media professionals were almost six times more likely than their male colleagues to face sexual harassment.

Around 60% of female respondents reported verbal sexual harassment, compared with 9% of males, while 48% experienced online sexual harassment linked to work, versus 15% of male respondents.

The study further found that 24% of women responded to experiencing physical sexual harassment, whereas 4% of men faced the same.

The survey also found that most survivors in Bangladesh did not report incidents, mainly due to fears of career repercussions.

Among female media professionals who experienced verbal harassment, 52% said they did not report abuse; in another 43% of reported cases, employers were reported to have failed to take action.

Valeria Perasso, Media Development Advisor at BBC Media Action, says, "Sexual harassment is not only a matter of individual protection but also of newsroom governance and journalistic integrity.

The comprehensive picture that emerges from this study will help inform organisational action and leadership practices in individual newsrooms and across the media sector."

BBC Media Action has been working in Bangladesh to prevent harassment in the country's media sector.

Besides training female journalists, initiating discussions with media leaders, and forming harassment response groups, BBC Media Action developed the country's first-ever sexual harassment response protocol for newsrooms.

Through a formal launch event, the response protocol was unveiled in March this year.