Nearly half of working women say they’ve experienced sexual harassment: Poll

Nearly half of all employed women in the United States say they have received an unwelcome sexual advance or other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature at work, according to a new poll.

As women around the US and UK continue to come forward with accusations of sexual harassment by famous men, the poll by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found that 48 percent of female workers said they had personally experienced sexual harassment at work.

In addition, 41 percent of currently employed men admit that they have personally witnessed the mistreatment of women in the workplace.

The results show that a broad majority of Americans believe workplace sexual harassment is commonplace. Two-thirds of Americans, 67 percent, believe that sexual harassment happens in most or almost all places of works.

Asked if recent media coverage of stories about sexual harassment has made them want to speak out about their own personal experiences, 44 percent of women agreed.

The survey comes after recent allegations of sexual misconduct against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein led to an avalanche of complaints against other high-profile men in a variety of industries.

PressTV-More stars disgraced in Hollywood sex scandal

The sexual scandal in Hollywood is widening as prominent film director Brett Ratner is accused of sexual assault and misconduct.

Women in the US and UK have recently been coming forward to share encounters of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, including in the media and entertainment industries and the realm of politics.

The sexual harassment crisis in Hollywood is widening as another prominent film director has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct.

Six women, including actress Olivia Munn, have so far come forward alleging that Brett Ratner have sexually harassed or assaulted them in private homes, at industry events and on movie sets, The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

The reverberations also hit Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman who had to apologize for allegedly sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985.

Writer Anna Graham Hunter claimed in column published Wednesday by The Hollywood Reporter that Hoffman, now 80, groped her on the set of a TV movie.

The new allegations came days after renowned actor Kevin Spacey admitted to sexual misconduct. Actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making sexual advances on him more than 30 years ago.

A similar sexual harassment scandal has gripped Britain in recent days. Allegations of inappropriate behavior have been swirling around Westminster since the Weinstein abuse scandal encouraged women to speak out about their experiences of sexual abuse or harassment.

A survey by the BBC released last week found that 53 percent of women and 20 percent of men in the UK said they were sexually harassed at work or a place of study.

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