The Netherlands Working Conditions Survey conducted by CBS and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, found inappropriate behavior at work is most prevalent in the healthcare sector, followed by the accommodation and food services sector.

This behavior includes unwanted sexual attention, harassment, physical violence, and bullying.

Key findings include:

• In 2023, 17 percent of all workers (ages 15 to 75) reported experiencing inappropriate behavior at work in the past 12 months.
• Workers in the healthcare sector reported the highest incidence of inappropriate behavior at 30 percent, followed by the accommodation and food services sector at 20 percent.
• Female workers are more likely than men to experience inappropriate behavior, with 21 percent reporting such incidents compared to 13 percent of male workers.
• In sectors with a higher proportion of female workers, such as healthcare and education, the incidence of inappropriate behavior is higher.
• Inappropriate behavior is more common in roles that involve frequent interaction with colleagues, clients, patients, or students. More than 75 percent of workers in healthcare and accommodation and food services reported social interaction almost all day.
• By contrast, sectors like agriculture and construction, where fewer women work and there is less social interaction, reported lower incidences of inappropriate behavior.

Source: https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2024/46/inappropriate-behaviour-at-work-is-most-common-in-healthcare-sector
 

Commentary

If women are targeted because of their sex, in the United States, that would be considered sex discrimination even for acts that are not sexual in nature.

Sex discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because of their sex, including their sexual orientation, transgender status, or pregnancy.

This can occur in various aspects of employment, such as hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment, which would include how one is treated.

Sex discrimination also includes harassment. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.

Steps organizations can take to lower exposure include:

Involve employees in efforts to promote a safe workplace. This can include forming committees or task forces dedicated to addressing workplace violence and inappropriate behavior.

Use guidelines established by organizations like OSHA to implement comprehensive violence prevention programs. These programs should include risk assessments, incident reporting systems, and response protocols.

Offer resources and training to teach employees how to respond to bias incidents and inappropriate behavior. This can include workshops, seminars, and online courses.

Create and maintain reporting mechanisms for accountability. Ensure that employees know how to report incidents and that reports are taken seriously and acted upon promptly.

Below is an extensive checklist on how to prevent gender discrimination: [rt]

• Incorporate into your mission that all workplace participants are treated equally, fairly, and respectfully
• Establish policies, procedures, and standards that prohibit discrimination, promote equality, and establish civility, including policies that prohibit discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Enforce your organization's policies, procedures, and standards, including those that prohibit discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Legally evaluate all new policies, procedures, standards, and duties to make certain they do not have a disparate impact on workers because of sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Closely scrutinize all physical, emotional, and cognitive testing of applicants, new hires, and existing workers for bias, including bias against applicants and/or workers because of their sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Job qualifications based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation should not be permitted or considered unless they are bona-fide occupational qualifications
• Make hiring or selection of workers based on experience, skills, and other objective qualifications necessary for an applicant to perform the essential functions of a position
• Discipline any employee — regardless of title, status, or duties — who engages in, encourages, or promotes discrimination or stereotypes based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Make certain all terminations are based on provable and documented objective factors, preferably related to job performance, and not based on subjective, arbitrary, or illegal factors
• Document all actions related to termination or discipline of workers
• Never terminate workers with the purpose of employing workers of a different sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Closely evaluate all terminations or layoffs for a disparate impact on workers because of sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Investigate and evaluate all attempts to transfer opportunities and responsibilities away from workers because of their sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Make certain that new leadership treats existing employees equally, fairly, and legally prior or hire or transfer, no matter their sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Review how all employment opportunities are distributed to ensure eligible workers are provided equal opportunities of employment no matter their sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Require all management to take discrimination prevention training that includes information on discrimination and harassment based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Require all workers to take diversity, civility, and equality and inclusion training in a language the trainee can understand
• Clearly communicate the means and process by which workplace participants can report discrimination, including discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Provide several safe and effective means for workplace participants to report discrimination including discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Allow for a means by which workplace participants can report discrimination anonymously, including discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation
• Investigate all reports and reasonable suspicions of discrimination including, discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation in a thorough, prompt, and objective manner
• Prohibit retaliation against workplace participants who report or complain about discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation or who are involved in investigations regarding such complaints
• Provide a safe and effective means for workplace participants, who report discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation to report retaliation