Women at work: Changes in sexual harassment between September 2016 and September 2018

Over the last two years, awareness about the sexual mistreatment of women has stunned the world. According to analysis by the New York Times, the defeat of Hilary Clinton and election of Donald Trump spurred a women’s movement in the US that began in November of 2016 and resulted in protests across the country, including the largest single-day protest in history on January 21, 2017. Later that year, the #MeToo movement (starting in October 2017) and subsequent #TimesUp movement (starting in January 2018) galvanized women to unite against sexual assault and sexual harassment, which has become the hallmark of the current women’s movement. But has anything changed over this time period in regard to the sexual harassment of women? Using a repeat cross-sectional survey from over 500 women collected at two points in time (September 2016 and September 2018), we found reduced levels of the most egregious forms of sexual harassment (unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion) but increased levels of gender harassment in 2018. More importantly, sexual harassment had a weaker relationship with women’s negative self-views (lower self-esteem, higher self-doubt) in 2018 compared to 2016. Qualitative interviews collected from women in the fall of 2016 and in the fall of 2018 from the same women, support the quantitative data. They suggest that the changes in sexual harassment are due to the increased scrutiny on the topic. The interviewees also emphasize that they feel better supported and empowered and are not ashamed to speak up about sexual harassment.

过去两年间，公众对女性遭受性虐待问题的高度关注震动全球。据《纽约时报》（The New York Times）分析，2016年11月启动的美国女性运动，由希拉里·克林顿败选与唐纳德·特朗普当选总统所催生，随后引发全美多地抗议活动，其中2017年1月21日的单日抗议为史上规模最大的单次抗议行动。同年晚些时候，2017年10月发起的#MeToo运动（#MeToo）以及2018年1月启动的后续#TimesUp运动（#TimesUp），推动女性联合起来对抗性侵犯与性骚扰，这也成为当前美国女性运动的标志性特征。但在此周期内，针对女性的性骚扰境况是否真的发生了变化？本研究采用2016年9月与2018年9月两个时间点的重复横断面调查数据，共收集到500余名女性的有效样本。分析结果显示：2018年时，两类最恶劣的性骚扰形式——不受欢迎的性关注与性胁迫——的发生率有所降低，但性别骚扰的发生率却有所上升。更为重要的是，与2016年相比，2018年性骚扰与女性负面自我认知（自尊水平降低、自我怀疑程度加剧）之间的关联强度显著减弱。此外，研究团队于2016年秋季与2018年秋季对同一批女性开展定性访谈，所得结果与量化数据相互佐证。访谈结果表明，性骚扰相关境况的变化源于社会对该议题的审查监督力度加大；受访女性还提及，如今她们感受到了更多的支持与赋权，且不再因举报性骚扰而感到羞愧。