There has been a lot of news in recent months about all types of harassment in workplaces throughout the country, but California, as the largest and most populous state and the one where infamous Hollywood stories are cropping up, is seeing more than its fair share of these news reports. A recent report about the Writers Guild is just adding fuel to the fire.
According to the report, a survey of over 2,000 members of the Writers Guild was conducted to examine instances of harassment in the workplace. The report notes that a whopping 64 percent of the female members of the Writers Guild who were surveyed reported experiencing sexual harassment during the course of their careers. On top of that, a reported 11 percent of male writers experienced sexual harassment as well.
It can be pretty hard to believe that this type of behavior would still be so prevalent in America, but the litany of reports about this topic over the past year or so makes it clear that sexual harassment is as big of a problem as it has ever been. However, hopefully with the new climate of addressing reports of harassment in the workplace, employees who are experiencing this behavior feel more comfortable speaking up and reporting the offending employers.
The recent report notes that the Writers Guild, as a union, is working to attempt to address the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace on behalf of its members. Gauging the prevalence of the issue may have been one of the first steps, and the information that the reported survey detailed is not encouraging.