LONDON - Almost six out
of 10 global companies do not have an anti-sexual harassment
policy two years after #MeToo went viral, a survey found on
Tuesday, noting controversies in U.S. tech firms.
With employees at Google, Facebook and Uber demanding action
on sexual harassment, including a mass staff walk out at Google,
the tech sector had been through a "turbulent" period, said
Equileap, which researches corporate gender
equality.
"The high costs of sexual harassment are evident not only to
individuals in terms of physical and mental stress, but also to
businesses in terms of employee turnover, consumer outrage,
litigation (and) corporate reputation," it said.
The #MeToo movement began in 2017 in the United States as a
response to accusations of sexual assault and harassment in
Hollywood and emboldened women around the world to recount their
experiences of being verbally abused, groped, molested or raped.
Although more of the 3500 publicly-listed companies
surveyed published sexual harassment guidelines - at 42% up from
37% in 2018 - it showed "a clear margin for improvement in a
post-MeToo era", said Netherlands-based Equileap.
Eight firms - all U.S.-based - triggered an "alarm bell" for
having legal judgments or cases against them linked to gender
discrimination or sexual harassment, it said, including CBS Corp
television network, Facebook and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co bank.
Companies in 23 developed economies representing 98 million
employees were ranked on 19 criteria, including gender balance,
pay gap, parental leave and sexual harassment.
The average gender equality score for U.S. companies was one
of the lowest, although female participation in the workforce,
at 39%, was above the global average of 36%.
Only 33 chief executives in the Fortune 500 - the largest
U.S. companies by revenue - were women, it said.
Bank of America was the leading U.S. company for gender
equality, ranking third globally, offering employees flexible
work arrangements and 16 weeks parental leave, plus policies to
support women-owned suppliers.
Five of the top 10 firms were Australian, and Australian
insurer Suncorp Group was the only company to achieve gender
balance at board, executive, senior management and workforce
levels.
Equileap said Australia's ranking was likely driven by
legislation in place since 2012 requiring companies to publish
comprehensive public reports on their gender equality
performance each year.
"Australia is an example of how enforced transparency can
motivate improved performance over time," it said.