If you were to look at the number of sexual harassment cases reported in particular workplaces, some would show no or very few reported incidents. You might take from this that a place with no reports or low numbers of reports will offer a safer environment than one with a relatively high number of reports. But that may not be the case.
The figures may be misleading because most cases of sexual harassment aren’t unreported. There are various reasons why victims, or those who witness it, do not file a report with their employer.
Not knowing how to
Some employees do not know how to report harassment. Their employer has not taken the time to make it clear to them how they can do this. There might not be any training sessions on the subject. There might not be notices on the wall informing who to report things to. And, if they ask a colleague, they might respond that they don’t know, either. So, it could end up with the employee just not bothering.
Some employers discourage it
Employers are not allowed to tell employees they should not report sexual harasment but that does not mean some don’t. In some cases an employer will tell an employee who is trying to report something they are too busy, or that the employee must have misunderstood what happened.
Other times, an employer (or one of the managers) might not log the complaint and take retaliatory action instead.The employee might suddenly find their hours are cut or made less convenient. They might find themselves overlooked for a promotion they were in pole position for, or fired without reason.
Other employees may see this and get the message that reporting sexual harassment is not welcome. The next time someone suffers harassment they may stay quiet.
So, when you see a place of employment that has several logged reports of harassment, it is worth considering that this could be a positive. It might mean the employer makes it easy for people to report things. It might mean the employer encourages reporting of incidents and may have taken appropriate action when dealing with those past reports to reduce the chance it happens again.