Prevalence of sexual harassment among young Spaniards before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown period in Spain – BMC Public Health – BMC Public Health
The results of our analysis clearly show that SH is a manifestation of power that primarily disadvantages women, younger individuals, non-heterosexuals, and those with a paid job.
Our results indicate that women are almost twice as likely as men to experience SH. While men can also be subjected to SH, women are more frequently disempowered because of a lack of physical and economic strength, being in more vulnerable and unsafe situations, and suffering the consequences of a heteropatriarchal education and cultural system, so the sexual harasser is usually a man and the harassed person tends to be a woman [13, 22].
We observed that, among heterosexual men and women, the estimated prevalence of SH was lower with respect to that observed among the LGB community, with prevalence estimates in the bivariate analysis of 31.5% for heterosexuals compared with 53, 39.2, and 34.6% for bisexuals, gays, and lesbians, respectively. Other studies also suggest that non-heterosexuals experience a higher percentage of harassment behaviors compared with heterosexuals [1, 3]. These authors also indicate that the most common negative effects of cyberbullying on LGB youth are psychological, emotional and behavioral, causing more problems in the sports world due to fear of being bullied and also showing lower academic performance.
Coinciding with the literature (2019 Violence Against Women Macrosurvey), our study shows that age is also a key factor in the incidence of SH, with the estimated prevalence being higher among younger individuals compared with older ones, with a prevalence percentage in the 18–24 age group twice as high as that observed in the 30–35 age group.
Employment status is another factor that showcased these power structures as we found that the likelihood of SH is higher among people who have a paid job compared with those who do not. Conversely, no significant differences were observed among men with respect to this variable. This finding make it clear that SH is present in the workplace and that the harasser is often a person belonging to the work environment, such as a colleague, a boss, or a client ([34]; 2019 Violence Against Women Macrosurvey).
In a more intimate environment, SH can also take place in a relationship context. However, our statistical model yielded higher prevalence estimates for people who did not cohabitate with a partner or who had never had a partner with respect to those who did. Although harassment within a relationship was normalized for several years due to the belief that this was a private matter, it has repercussions on the victims’ health and an important social impact [12]. Harassment within a relationship between two young individuals who do not cohabitate or are not married is clearly different to that occurring within the context of a marriage or cohabitating partners. First, because of the harassers’ and the victims’ age, which is markedly lower among non-cohabitating partners. Secondly, due to factors related to parental, contractual, or financial responsibilities in the case of cohabiting couples [30]. Thus, the higher prevalence of SH among individuals without a partner or who do not cohabitate with a partner may be explained by their age (which tends to be higher among people with a partner) or the fact that harassment occurring within a relationship takes on a dimension of sexual violence that is experienced and reported by the victim as such.
The evolution of the prevalence of SH detected before, during, and after the lockdown period indicates that this type of harassment, for the most part, takes place outside the home environment: in the work environment, the academic environment [7, 28] and in public settings (street SH) [35]. Thus, the disappearance of sex, age, and paid work as variables affecting SH during the lockdown period would be explained by the temporary closure of workplaces, classrooms, and both public (squares, streets, etc.) and private (bars, restaurants, pubs, etc.) social spaces.
Although the temporary closure of workplaces and classrooms prevented face-to-face harassment, this type of behavior entered the digital environment through offensive messages, insinuations or proposals, provocations, contact attempts using false identities, messages with sexual content or offensive calls being just some of the SV acts mostly experienced by women and teenagers [6]. Sexual cyberstalking is a crime contemplated in the amendment of the 2015 Spanish penal code. Therefore, we are describing acts that have only been criminalized since very recently. It is important to highlight variables such as gender, a couple relationship, age, country of birth, and sexual orientation within the context of technological harassment. As in the case of other studies, our analysis highlights that women, usually in a stable relationship [26], are the main victims of these digital aggressions (66.7% compared with 33.3% among men) [23]. These cyber-aggressions among couples is a subtype of phycological aggression that takes place via social media aimed to threaten, humiliate and control partner behaviour and social relationships [14]. Moreover, as shown by our findings, the most vulnerable groups (minors, immigrants, or the LGTBI community) suffer more from this type of harassment [15].
The above is evident in the findings of our study. The most frequently reported SH behaviors before and after the lockdown periods were insistent or lascivious looks that have made someone feel intimidated (63.4 and 54.4% pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods, respectively, versus 22.9% during the lockdown period) and have received sexual jokes or offensive comments about someone’s body or private life (39.7 and 34.3% pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods, respectively, versus 32.2% during the lockdown period). In contrast, during the lockdown period, harassment through electronic channels, such as have received inappropriate, humiliating, intimidating or offensive insinuations on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter (35.1% during the lockdown period versus 20.1% both before and after this period) or have received sexually explicit and inappropriate e-mails, WhatsApp messages or text messages that have someone feel offended, humiliated or intimidated (32.6% during the lockdown period versus 16.5 and 17.8% before and after this period, respectively), was more significant, which highlights the fact that the harasser was an acquaintance who had the harassed person’s contact details.
The results obtained in our analysis are consistent with those reported in existing publications in the scientific literature but provide new insights into SH regarding the use of a mixed sample (comprising both women and men). This approach avoids the gender bias affecting many studies including exclusively female samples by justifying that only women suffer this type of harassment. However, this claim falls apart when considering non-heterosexual men. Our sample design and the breadth of the panel used to extract it allowed us to determine the exposure to SH among young Spaniards.
Although much work is being carried out to raise society’s awareness of harassment, there is still a long way to go. We live in a society that is currently making great progress in certain aspects; however, there is still discrimination based on a person’s gender, sexual orientation, or age supported by power relations that fail to respect equal opportunities. That’s why our results are relevant, because they can help to design preventive policies and programs that can be applied in adolescents and youth populations to prevent these behaviors in the future. Because the eradication of SH (as well as other types of abuse) will require a cultural change influencing political, commercial, and educational formulations throughout different countries to ensure that equal opportunities are truly given to all people, regardless of their age, race, gender, or religion.