Women with authority in the workplace are not immune to sexual harassment. In fact, new research confirms just the opposite: Women in management positions experience 30-100 percent more sexual harassment than other female staff.
The study, from the Swedish Institute for Social Research at Stockholm University, builds and expands on previous research in this area that has discussed the so-called "Paradox of Power." Researchers conducted a survey in Sweden, the U.S., and Japan. They found consistently across all three countries that women in positions of power experienced more harassment than their counterparts in other roles. Women at lower levels of leadership experienced the most harassment, though it remained substantial for women all the way up the ladder.
"When you think about it, there are logical explanations: a supervisor is exposed to new groups of potential perpetrators. She can be harassed both from her subordinates and from higher-level management within the company. More harassment from these two groups is also what we saw when we asked the women who had harassed them," Johanna Rickne, professor of Economics at the Swedish Institute for Social Research in Stockholm, said in a press release.
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