Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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US book-industry survey finds one in five women report sexual harassment

US book-industry journal Publishers Weekly has released the results of its survey on sexual harassment in the industry, with almost one fifth of the 664 respondents reporting that they have experienced harassment.

A total of 22% of women responding to the survey said they have been sexually harassed, which becomes 18% overall, after including four men who reported being sexually harassed. Of the 91 respondents who are people of colour, 21% reported being sexually harassed, compared to 17% of white respondents.

Most respondents (77%) said their companies have formal sexual harassment policies, but only 40% of women thought complaints were followed up on, compared to 67% of men. Most women reporting sexual harassment (55%) said that the incidents occurred in the office, followed by conventions and book fairs, then parties or other after-hours industry gatherings.

The department where harassment most often occurred was sales and marketing, followed by management, where 13% of women said they were harassed. Both departments have a greater percentage of men than editorial. Publishers with revenues between $10 million and $100 million were the companies with the highest percentage of harassment complaints.

Last year, UK book-industry journal the Bookseller found that 54% of women and 34% of men (51% overall), who responded to the survey said they had been sexually harassed, in a survey of 388 respondents in the UK.

Also last year, Books+Publishing’s own survey of sexual harassment in the Australian book industry found that 57% of women, and 54% of respondents overall, reported being sexually harassed, in a survey of 213 respondents.

 

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Category: International news