CAMPAIGN Sexual harassment
‘NO WOMAN SHOULD SUFFER’
Unite’s fight against sexual harassment at work
“Nothing was ever done about it.” “I felt unable to report it.”
“No one was reprimanded.” The overwhelming sentiment expressed in Unite’s landmark sexual harassment survey is one of devastating resignation.
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The reason I couldn't report it was they both had been pulled in for [other incidents]… Neither got reprimanded, just told not to do it again. Everyone knew nothing was done
Unite survey respondent
But the findings are also helping to drive a collective campaign for change across the sector. Sexual harassment remains so endemic in many workplaces that women often feel powerless to challenge it alone, underscoring the importance of workers coming together to tackle the problem.
The union polled 300,000 of its women members across 19 sectors last year. Landworker has now learned that the prevalence of sexual harassment in the food, drink and agriculture (FDA) sector is among the highest of all sectors.
The survey found an astonishing third of women working in the sector have been sexually assaulted at work. It also found a strong majority – 57 per cent – had been the recipient of sexually offensive jokes, with 53 per cent having experienced unwanted flirting, gesturing or sexual remarks.
16 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2026
Nearly half of those surveyed in the sector reported they’d been inappropriately touched, while nearly a third had been shared or shown pornographic images by a manager, colleague or third party.
Almost one in 10 had been a victim of workplace sexual coercion – when a person pressures, tricks, threatens, or manipulates someone into engaging in sexual activity without genuine consent.
“Even in the 21st century, it is still seen as acceptable for males to sexually harass females in the workplace,” one respondent shared.
“I feel unable to report it as I believe it will affect my career as I’ll be marked as a troublemaker."
Another respondent said she’d been personally harassed on ‘several occasions’ by two male colleagues.
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