1 in 3 Men Don’t Think Catcalling is Sexual Harassment

The national discussion of sexual harassment is now front and center, with allegations coming out against men in various industries, from the Silicon Valley tech scene to Hollywood. Women across the country are being empowered to speak up and share their stories using the #MeToo hashtag.

What’s missing from most of the narrative around sexual harassment are the voices of men, leaving many questions about men’s education on sexual harassment, complicity and empathy.

We decided to survey more than 750 men across the country on a variety of these topics and these are our findings:

Men may not be clear on what sexual harassment is

• 1 in 3 don’t think catcalling is sexual harassment
• 2 in 3 don’t think repeated unwanted invitations to drinks, dinner, or dates is sexual harassment

Men are definitely witnessing sexual harassment

• 45% of respondents say they have witnessed someone being sexually harassed

• Respondents who have witnessed sexual harassment indicated they have witnessed it in the following environments:

  Work - 50%
  Party/Bar/NightClub - 50%
  Street - 47%
  School - 43%
  Public Transportation - 32%

Men are speaking up (or at least they want to)

• 1 in 3 say they have directly confronted offenders when witnessing sexual harassment or assault
• Nearly a quarter say they have intervened in another way (interruption, distraction, etc).
• 18% of men say they said or did nothing
• More than a quarter of men say they regret not doing more when they’ve witnessed sexual harassment

Men are victims of sexual harassment as well

• More than a quarter of men say they have been sexually harassed or assaulted themselves

Some think sexual harassment isn’t THAT big of a deal

• Nearly 1 in 5 don’t think sexual harassment is a fireable offense
• A quarter of respondents think the increased conversation around sexual harassment is unjustified

In summary, we found that though men may not always be clear as to what exactly constitutes sexual harassment, they do recognize it to be a problem and many are willing to speak up against it.

Our Beliefs

At Instamotor, we are passionate about diversity and ensuring that we provide a safe and comfortable work environment for all employees. In an industry flooded with hushed sexual harassment scandals, we welcome an open dialogue about these issues and encourage our employees to speak up if they hear or see anything that makes them uncomfortable.

Methodology

We surveyed 750 adult men in the United States about their experience and feelings about sexual harassment and assault via the survey platform Pollfish. The survey was conducted between October 20, 2017 and October 21, 2017.