Survey finds over a third of women in UK and Irish aviation have been sexually assaulted

Over a third of women working in UK and Ireland civil air transport have been sexually assaulted in the workplace, a landmark Unite survey has revealed.

The union, which has around 30,000 women members in the sector, polled them on whether they had experienced sexual harassment while at work, travelling to work or from a colleague including in out of work hours. This was part of a wider survey polling women members in all 19 sectors where Unite has representation.

It found 34% of women working in civil air transport, including cabin crew, front-of-desk staff and baggage handlers had been sexually assaulted at work. Disturbingly, 11% had been a victim of sexual coercion – when a person pressures, tricks, threatens, or manipulates someone into engaging in sexual activity without genuine consent – at work.

The survey, part of Unite’s Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment campaign, also found 67% had experienced unwanted flirting, gesturing or sexual remarks, 65% had been the recipient of sexually offensive jokes, 55% had been inappropriately touched and over four in 10 (40%) had been shared or shown pornographic images by a manager, colleague or third party such as a passenger.

Out of those who had been sexually harassed at work in most occasions it was not a one off instance, almost half (47%) had it happen more than twice, while a third (34%) had experienced it more than once. However 80% of respondents did not report these incidents, meaning many perpetrators are left free to offend again.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Staff safety should be among the highest priorities for employers in the civil air transport industry but the results of our survey are damning and show women workers are being failed by bosses.

“Nobody should suffer sexual harassment in the workplace. Unite is committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach and we will put every employer turning a blind eye on notice.

“We will fight every step of the way to stamp out workplace harassment once and for all. Every worker deserves a safe working environment and should feel able to report harassment.”

Many respondents to the survey working in the sector said they didn’t report harassment they had experienced or witnessed as they worried they wouldn’t be believed or it would put their job at risk, while others felt it wasn’t taken seriously when they did raise it. Over three quarters (76%) said the issue was not addressed or tackled by management.

One woman working in the industry said: “I experienced sexual harassment from passengers and management never do anything about it. They say passengers come and go and there is a small chance you will see them again.”

Another said: “Management laughed off my experience where a crew member with a known history of sexual assault touched me inappropriately. They protected him not me.”

Meanwhile some women said they either had to carry on working with abusers after reporting incidents or were even forced out of their own job roles.

One respondent said: “Two of my friends were sexually assaulted on a work trip. I was involved in the investigation for months. The man in question is still flying in a managerial position. The airline did nothing to support my friends or keep them safe by keeping this man in the company.”

Another said: “I was physically assaulted by a male member of staff. I reported it and nothing was done, the member of staff still works here. I am worried he will do it to someone else, and am also scared to see him.” 

Unite national officer for civil air transport, Balvinder Bir, said: “It is clear that women working for airlines and in the sector are being failed by their employers and this cannot continue. It is especially concerning that so many incidents are going unreported.

“Much more needs to be done to protect women, to help them report but also for incidents to be taken more seriously when they do so – for example we hear time and time again from our members that they have faced harassment from passengers. All that happens is these passengers may get a ban from the airline but they are free to fly with other airlines and offend again.

“We will fight all the way to ensure that Unite’s campaign demands are met so women working in the industry are fully protected and they are safe to work without harassment.”

Last October, The Worker Protection Act 2023 became law. This means employers must take measures to prevent sexual harassment from happening in the workplace and at work events such as conferences.  However, Unite’s research shows this is not being implemented fully and workers are being failed.

Unite’s survey found only 18% of women working in civil air transport felt their employer had done enough to promote a sexual harassment zero-tolerance culture within the workplace following the implementation of this legislation.

Unite has launched a campaign calling for greater protections to end the menace of workplace harassment. Measures Unite is campaigning for include:

• The introduction of a standalone sexual harassment policy
• Mandatory training on sexual harassment for all employees and a commitment to recognise union equality representatives with paid time off
• The deadline for being able to make a claim in an employment tribunal to be extended from three months after the incident occurred to six months as a minimum for lodging a claim
• The government to put in extra legal protections, for example third party harassment and sexual harassment should be treated by the Health and Safety Executive as a workplace injury.

Unite national women’s officer Alison Spencer-Scragg said: “The Worker Protection Act has not gone far enough in keeping women who work in civil air transport safe from sexual harassment at their workplace.

“Employers are not taking their obligations seriously despite the fact it is the law. This is creating a culture where sexual harassment is going unreported, while those who do take the issues forward are left feeling disbelieved, forced to work with abusers and even losing their roles.

“Unite is calling on the government to take our demands seriously to stamp out sexual harassment in construction firms and workplaces.”