New Nordic report: Preventing sexual harassment at work

Sexual harassment and prevention in the Nordic workplace was the focus of a two-year Nordic research initiative. Several projects have developed new methods and tools in collaboration with labour market stakeholders, managers and employees. The results are now available in a new report from NIKK.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a complex issue that touches on many different fields of knowledge and research. Nevertheless, international research reviews show that there is very little research on prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, and that research within and between Nordic countries is almost completely lacking.

Working life in the Nordic countries has many similarities in terms of overall structures and regulations and in terms of common practices and routines. Yet we know relatively little about the significance of these structures for understanding or preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.

To develop knowledge about sexual harassment in working life, the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated a Nordic research initiative 2021-2023 in collaboration with several sectors within the Nordic co-operation. The report “Preventing sexual harassment at work”, with a foreword by Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland’s Prime Minister and Minister for Gender Equality, summarises the research initiative. It highlights the results of the five granted projects and discusses the premises for developing knowledge about sexual harassment in working life and ways forward. It is aimed at working life actors, policy makers, civil servants and anyone else who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the subject. The report provides insights into the challenges faced in preventing sexual harassment in different sectors as well as possible solutions.

Knowledge development in partnership and continued research

Cooperation with workplaces and stakeholders in working life and a Nordic dimension to the research were preconditions for being awarded research funding under the initiative. The researchers have been working together with the tourism and hospitality industry, health and social care, trade unions and workplace organisations, among others.

The projects have developed new tools and methods to prevent sexual harassment. Examples include a Nordic survey tool for comparisons between workplaces in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, a toolkit to raise awareness and create dialogue about sexist harassment in health and social care workplaces, and the development of an intervention tool to activate bystanders/witnesses to sexual harassment.

The research initiative was carried out in collaboration with the Nordic sectors for gender equality, culture and working life and the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People. Nordic cooperation and close collaboration with industries within the Nordic labour market has facilitated dissemination efforts and resulted in new collaborations. Several projects also continue the initiated research in new projects.

Seminar in Reykjavik on sexual harassment in the Nordic region

How can new perspectives on justice, violence, exploitation and work help us to better manage and prevent sexual harassment? These questions are raised in two Nordic anthologies, serving as a framework for a seminar that NIKK is organizing in Reykjavik.

On 25 April, NIKK, together with RIKK, the Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference at the University of Iceland, and the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg, invite everyone who works to prevent sexual harassment through research, policy-making or in their practice to a thought-provoking and inspiring discussion. 

During the seminar, authors and editors will discuss some of the central questions in the two anthologies “The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of the #MeToo Movement” (2021, Routledge) and “Re-Imagining Sexual Harassment – Perspectives from the Nordic Region”, which is edited in collaboration between NIKK and the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research and will be published 18 April, 2023 (Policy Press/Bristol University Press).

The program will be published shortly!

Participants:

Maja Lundqvist, co-editor of Re-Imagining Sexual Harassment. Perspectives from the Nordic Region.
Hildur Fjóla Antonsdóttir, PhD in Sociology of Law, author of the chapter “Beyond Restorative Justice. Survivors’ Calls for Innovative Practices in Iceland” in Re-Imagining Sexual Harassment.
Silas Aliki, lawyer and writer, author of the chapter “I Have Always Thought a Lot about the Nature of Violence. Carceral Feminism and Sexual Violence in the Neoliberal State” in Re-Imagining Sexual Harassment.
Giti Chandra, co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of the #MeToo Movement and author of the chapter “The Anonymous Feminist. Agency, Trauma, Personhood, and the #MeToo Movement”.
Irma Erlingsdóttir, co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of the Politics of the #MeToo Movement and author of the chapter “Fighting Structural Inequalities. Feminist Activism and the #MeToo Movement in Iceland’.

Nordic co-operation opens new perspectives on sexual harassment

More knowledge is needed on how to handle and prevent sexual harassment. As a contribution to knowledge building, NIKK and the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg have co-produced a Nordic anthology published in April. In the book, academics and literary authors open up for new understandings of sexual harassment, violence and justice.

“Sexual harassment is a major problem for society in the Nordic countries and more research is needed on prevention and on understandings of sexual violence and harassment. This book shows that the Nordic region is complex and that the idea of some countries have made so much progress, or are even finished with the work for gender equality, can stand in the way of actual change”, says Maja Lundqvist, analyst at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg.

Together with Kajsa Widegren, PhD in gender studies, and Angelica Simonsson, PhD in education, analysts at the Secretariat for Gender Research, she is co-editor of the upcoming anthology Re-imagining Sexual Harassment – Perspectives from the Nordic Region. The book will be published on 18 April by Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press. Researchers and writers from across the Nordic region have contributed with different perspectives, including workplace violence, sexual harassment in academia, and the challenges and opportunities of the legal system. Academic text is alternated with more fictional contributions.

“We primarily invited researchers active in the Nordic region, who we felt could give new perspectives and theoretical approaches. But it was also important for us to have contributions from people outside academia, in order to nuance the picture of knowledge about vulnerability. There are experiences and embodied knowledge of vulnerability and resistance that non-academic writing can access in a better way”, says Maja Lundqvist.

While working on this anthology, we also deepened ideas and perspectives that have emerged in the organization after working with sexual harassment since Metoo.
Fredrik Bondestam

The book has been produced in co-operation between NIKK and the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research.

“We see a need for a boost in knowledge about sexual harassment in the Nordic labour market. While working on this anthology, we also deepened ideas and perspectives that have emerged in the organization after working with sexual harassment since Metoo”, says Fredrik Bondestam, PhD in education and director of the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research.

The Metoo movement in the fall of 2017 sparked much debate and created a demand for more knowledge on sexual harassment. In response, NIKK has in recent years produced and compiled several Nordic knowledge and policy reviews on sexual harassment, and also administered a Nordic research initiative on sexual harassment in the labor market. The Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research has produced research reviews, participated in expert groups and collaborated in research projects on gender-based violence and sexual harassment in Sweden, in the Nordic countries and internationally. This long-term work has highlighted the extent and complexity of the problem.

“The knowledge gaps we have identified have raised both curiosity and frustration, in relation to research, knowledge and policy development and how sexual harassment should be managed and prevented. We hope that this book can be important in the conversation about sexual harassment. It adds nuance and broadens the understanding of what sexual harassment and violence are and its consequences for people living in the Nordic region”, says Maja Lundqvist.

Cover of the anthology Re-imagining Sexual Harassment

Research projects granted funds for new knowledge about sexual harassment at work

How do Nordic ideals, regarding management and organisation, impact the work environment of employees within service and retail – when the customer is the perpetrator of sexual harassment? A questionnaire that could provide an essential tool for comparative research on sexual harassment in the Nordic region – how could it be designed and tested? This will be analysed in the two research projects that have been granted funds in the first Open Call within the research initiative by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Sectors involved include gender equality, culture, working life and the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People.

Granted research projects in Open Call 1

This spring the first of two Open Calls opened, within the Nordic Research Initiative. Open Call 1 was aimed at ongoing research projects, where a grant from the research initiative would enable a Nordic dimension to be added to the project.

Applications that met the criteria was assessed by three external academic reviewers. Decisions were made after consulting the intersectorial reference group appointed by the Nordic Council of Ministers in connection with this initiative. The following research projects have been granted funds in Open Call 1:

Customer Sexual Harassments in the Nordic Service Workplace

IWS-Nordic: A Nordic questionnaire assessing sexual harassment at work

Overarching objectives of the initiative

To contribute towards new knowledge on sexual harassment at work in the Nordic countries, with a focus on preventive measures and intervention methods
To contribute towards a good knowledge base for policy development and to cross-sectoral Nordic collaboration within the Nordic Council of Ministers
For the research to be of high academic quality, practice-based and well communicated
To be relevant to the collaborative sectors involved, for affected industries and for the working life actors

NIKK – Nordic Information on Gender, a Nordic cooperation body under the Nordic Council of Ministers, is administering the research initiative. NIKK will also disseminate information about and knowledge from the projects that are awarded grants in the two Open Calls.

Apply for research funds for new knowledge about sexual harassment in working life

Today, studies on the prevention of sexual harassment in workplaces in the Nordic countries are largely lacking. Knowledge is needed about why they work or not, about who is reached and not reached through the preventive work. Today, 26 August, the second of two calls opens within the framework of a Nordic research initiative, focusing on these issues.

In order to develop new and effective efforts to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, evidence- and research-based knowledge is essential. In light of this, the Nordic Council of Ministers has decided to support a Nordic research initiative, in co-peration between several sectors within the Nordic collaboration. Sectors involved include gender equality, culture, working life and the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People.  The research initiative consists of two open calls for proposals, both launched in 2021.

Maria Grönroos, co-ordinator for the Nordic research initiative Photo: Ragnhild Fjellro

“Open Call 2 is aimed at researchers and working life actors in the Nordic region who intend to initiate practice-oriented research activities with high quality, in close collaboration. The projects should have a Nordic benefit by contributing with new knowledge on sexual harassment in the workplace in the Nordic region”, says Maria Grönroos, co-ordinator for the research initiative, administered by NIKK, Nordic Information on Knowledge on gender.

Industry-specific or industry comparative approach 

Industries face in part different, and in part, similar challenges. There is therefore potential for synergies if local analyses are also tied to more generic knowledge about sexual harassment and interventions, and if co-operation between industries occurs. Comparisons between different industries could provide a clear understanding of industry-specific and cross-industry challenges and opportunities.  The applications should be based on partnership between at least three Nordic countries/areas of the Nordic region. 

Interdisciplinarity, intersectionality and defining concepts 

Sexual harassment in the workplace touches on many areas of knowledge – from work sciences research to research on health, organisations, power, violence, etc. For sustainable and robust knowledge, proposals are encouraged to include interdisciplinary approaches to their projects.  

Intersectional approaches where aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different discrimination modes and privilege are relevant to managing sexual harassment at work.

“International research shows that people belonging to minority groups, or at risk of harassing due to attributes such as age, disability or sexuality, also have greater risk of being sexually harassed. Proposals are encouraged to address the diversified and complex reality in working life to contribute to well-targeted and effective prevention and new intervention methods”, says Maria Grönroos.

The lack of clear definitions of concepts related to sexual harassment makes it difficult to work in the area. The legal construction of the term sexual harassment provides limited space to understand the phenomenon or what the victim experiences sexual harassment. A recommendation is to require reflection and clarity of the use of terms and interpretation of these conditions in the projects. 

Digital information meeting on 2 September 

A digital info meeting will be organised for those who have questions about the call and plan to apply: Thursday, 2 September, 13.00-14:30 CET .

Interested in participating? Please email maria.gronroos@genus.gu.se no later than 30 August. 

NIKK is a Nordic cooperation body under the Nordic Council of Ministers. NIKK collect and disseminate knowledge about politics and practice, facts and research in the area of gender equality in a Nordic perspective.

First open call for Nordic Research Initiative opens today

Photo: Carina Elmäng

Research and evidence-based knowledge is essential to be able to develop new and effective measures to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. Today opens the first of two open calls within a Nordic Research Initiative, focusing on these issues. In order to develop new and effective efforts to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, evidence- and research-based knowledge is essential. In light of this, the Nordic Council of Ministers has decided to support a Nordic research initiative, in co-operation between several sectors within the Nordic collaboration. Sectors involved include gender equality, culture, working life and the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People. The research initiative consists of two open calls for proposals, both will be launched in 2021. Open Call 1 opens on 20 April.

About Open Call 1

The open call 1 is aimed at currently ongoing research projects, which through approval of a Nordic grant could contribute to new knowledge regarding sexual harassment in Nordic working life. The focus will be on preventive measures, as well as methods for intervention.

Key dates:

Open Call 1 opens: 20 April 2021
Open Call 1 closes: 10 June 2021 at 14:00 CET
Preliminary time for decisions: September 2021

Assessment and decisions

Applications that meet the criteria will be assessed by external academic reviewers. Decisions will be announced by NIKK, after consulting the interdisciplinary reference group appointed by the Nordic Council of Ministers in connection with this initiative. Decisions are final.

Digital information meeting on 6 May

A digital info meeting will be organised for those who have questions about the call and plan to apply: Thursday, 6 May, 13.00-14:30 CET

Interested in participating? Please email maria.gronroos@genus.gu.se no later than 3 May.

Communication and dissemination from the research initiative

NIKK will administer the research initiative and disseminate information about and knowledge from the projects that are awarded grants. In the winter of 2022/2023, a Nordic dissemination conference is planned, covering both calls of the research initiative, in co-operation with the Norwegian Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers for 2022.

Ministers initiate research on sexual harassment at work

The Nordic Council of Ministers supports joint research on sexual harassment at work with 3,7 million Danish crowns. The initiative is especially focused on prevention and methods for intervention through industry studies and comparative studies of different industries. Other topics for the Finnish presidency are hate and threat, men’s care responsibility and norms in preschools.

Violence, harassment and other forms of vulnerability at work are major societal challenges with serious consequences for individuals and workplace organisations. At the same time there are major gaps in our knowledge about methods for preventing and stopping violence and harassment, protecting victims and being proactive in workplace environments. 

“Although our awareness about sexual harassment has increased in recent years, the phenomenon has by no means disappeared. Research and evidence-based knowledge has an important role in developing new and effective measures to combat sexual harassment, says Thomas Blomqvist, Finnish Minister for Gender Equality and Nordic Co-operation and newly appointed Chairman for the Nordic gender equality and LGBTI cooperation. This is an extremely important issue, where Nordic cooperation and exchange of knowledge can bring great added value.”

This is a cross-sectoral research initiative jointly with several sectors within the Nordic cooperation. The collaborative sectors are gender equality, culture, working life and the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People. Further sectors may be added at a later date. 

Objectives for the initiative

The overarching objectives of the initiative are: 

To contribute towards new knowledge on sexual harassment at work in the Nordic countries, with a focus on preventive measures and intervention methods. 
To contribute towards a good knowledge base for policy development and to cross-sectoral Nordic collaboration. 
For the research to be of high academic quality, practice-based and well communicated. 
To be relevant to the collaborative sectors involved, for affected industries and for the working life actors

The research initiative spans over 2021 – 2023 and is administered by Nordic Information on Gender, NIKK, on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Two calls will be made during 2021.

Activities against hate and threats

Apart from the research initiative the Finnish presidency will, within the Nordic gender equality cooperation, also focus on activities against hate and threats, especially harassments on the net. Issues about norms and gender stereotypes will also be in focus, especially concerning preschools. Regarding these issues a Nordic survey will be made, with present research, reports and legislation and a Nordic conference will be arranged, to present new knowledge and exchange experiences.

Men’s care responsibility, fatherhood and parental leave are also issues that will be highlighted during the year. The Finnish presidency continues to establish the new policy area concerning rights, treatment and possibilities for LGBTI people. In November this will be the focus of a conference.

NIKK and NIVA arrange webinar on sexual harassment in the health care sector

Health care workers are crucial to the functioning of society. They work on the front line and meet a large number of people every day – colleagues, patients and their relatives. Research shows that sexual harassment is a big problem in the workplace. That includes health care. On March 2 these issues are highlighted in our webinar ‘Sexually harassed in health care – doubly vulnerable in a hard-hit sector’.

Many health care workers report that they have been subjected to sexual harassment at work. The ongoing pandemic has also starkly highlighted shortcomings in the health care sector’s working conditions, which is already a vulnerable sector. The Nordic countries have similarities and differences in how this sector is organised as well as in the format and design of measures and initiatives undertaken. Nordic Information on Gender, NIKK, and the Nordic Institute for Advanced Training in Occupational Health, NIVA, invite you to the webinar Sexually harassed in health care – doubly vulnerable in a hard-hit sector on these highly topical issues.

Learn about the experience of the Icelandic health care sector, the Norwegian Nurses Federation and the newly appointed Swedish Equality Ombudsman, in conversation on the problem as well as important measures and solutions to it. Results from the new report Sexually harassed at work – An overview of the research in the Nordic countries will be presented and discussed from the different perspectives of the panel participants.

What do we know about sexual harassment? Overview presents knowledge

It is three years since Metoo started and rapidly spread around the world. We highlight this day by publishing “Sexually harassed at work –
A brief overview of the research in the Nordic countries.” The brief publication presents the current knowledge about sexual harassment in the workplace in the Nordic countries, while also making apparent key knowledge gaps where more research is needed.

The Metoo Day, 15th of October, is a way to check on how the power in the revolution metoo came to be is being held on to today. In the Nordic countries the Metoo movement is a pressing issue. One example is the many calls for action against sexism in several sectors in Denmark during this fall.

The publication briefly presents the current knowledge about sexual harassment in the workplace in the Nordic countries, while also making apparent key knowledge gaps where more research is needed. What do we know today? How do different sectors differ from each other? The publication is a great way to get an overview of the Nordic research on this burning issue.

Nordic research on sexual harassment presented in new report

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a major social problem in the Nordic countries. The many #MeToo calls for action during the autumn of 2017 in particular are testimony to this. Knowledge on this issue in the Nordic countries has been compiled for the first time in the report “Sexual harassment in the workplace – An overview of the research in the Nordic countries”.

The report outlines current knowledge about sexual harassment in the Nordic countries and identifies needs for additional knowledge. This research overview was produced by Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK) and commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers as the basis for a Nordic research initiative in the area. The Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, sees the report as an important step toward a society in which gender equality prevails, free from violence and harassment.

“This report offers an important overview of the gaps and indeed chasms in our factual knowledge of sexual harassment in the workplace. It highlights the importance of multidisciplinary research and of continuing Nordic collaboration on ending sexual harassment at work and other forms of violence against women and girls. Such violence is both the cause and consequence of wider gender inequalities and we have both a legal and a moral obligation to end it.”

Great need for more Nordic knowledge

The report charts how sexual harassment takes different forms in the workplace depending on the occupation. The report shows that, regardless of the industry investigated, the consequences of sexual harassment in the workplace are devastating for both individuals and organisations. Some common consequences are mental ill-health, sickness absence, diminished career opportunities, and burdensome staff turnover as a result of terminations. Malin Svensson, PhD in child and youth studies, has written the report and in it she identifies the need for cross-sectoral knowledge.

“Sexual harassment can look different depending on the nature of the occupation, and experiences may differ between occupational groups, for example whether or not the employee’s physical body is central to performing their work. That is why we need cross-sectoral knowledge from many countries that can identify broader patterns in the Nordic labour market. The report also shows that a focus on gender and age is too narrow. We need knowledge about how gender, age, ethnicity and skin colour, functionality/disability, and sexual identity operate in tandem with the risks of being sexually harassed at work.”

The report also identifies the need for more and deeper knowledge about why sexual harassment occurs and about structural conditions that contribute to or prevent the incidence of sexual harassment if we are going to be able to understand and counter harassment. Malin Svensson identifies a number of key knowledge gaps where more research is needed to be able to tackle this social problem energetically.

“There is agreement within the research field that the number of unreported cases is high and that women, as well as other groups, who have been the victims of harassment do not report it for various reasons. We also need to know more about the perpetrators – who they are and what drives them to offend. There is also a need for more knowledge about the working conditions and conditions of employment that can constitute particular risk factors for being sexually harassed.

The research overview is based on a systematic review of the research and other relevant literature from the Nordic countries between the years 2014 and 2019. Read “Sexually harassed at work – an overview of the research in the Nordic countries” here.