Female officials under the age of 35 regularly experience unwanted sexual behavior in the workplace. About a seventh had to do with it last year.
This has emerged from a study into undesirable behavior among employees in the public sector, carried out by Statistics Netherlands, among others. Nearly 40,000 officials took part in the investigation commissioned by State Secretary Knops of the Interior.
About 9 percent of officials surveyed said they had experienced discrimination in the past year, for example because of age, gender, sexual orientation, skin color, or creed.
Most complaints were about people outside the organization, often customers or citizens. Officials who have daily customer contact mainly reported verbal aggression. Almost 1 in 3 had to deal with harassment and threats
#MeToo
According to the report, which came after parliamentary questions from D66 member Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, the # MeToo movement deserves attention from central government. Since the movement emerged about three years ago, sexual misconduct has been under a magnifying glass.
Knops writes in a letter to the House of Representatives that the research results emphasize the importance of having an open, safe culture in which employees can hold each other and the organization accountable for behavior. According to him, this is essential for good public administration.
Civil servants already have the opportunity to speak to a confidential adviser, Knops writes. Workshops are also offered to recognize unwanted behavior.
The survey also found that more than 80 percent of respondents believe their organization is doing enough to counteract unwanted behavior.
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