A new global survey of workplace abuse has found it is widespread, and particularly pronounced among migrants, young people and women.

The survey by the UN’s International Labor Organisation (ILO) found more than 22 per cent of almost 75,000 workers in 121 countries surveyed last year reported having experienced at least one type of violence or harassment.

Complied by ILO, the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Gallup, the report said: “violence and harassment in the world of work is a pervasive and harmful phenomenon, with profound and costly effects ranging from severe physical and mental health consequences to lost earnings and destroyed career paths to economic losses for workplaces and societies”.

According to the report, titled ‘The People’s Experiences of Violence and Harassment at Work: A first global account’, a third of the people who experienced violence or harassment at work said they had experienced more than one form — and 6.3 per cent said they had faced all three forms: physical, psychological, and sexual violence and harassment during their working life.

More than two in five persons who had been discriminated against based on skin colour, race/ethnicity/nationality, religion or disability status had also experienced violence and harassment at work, compared to fewer than one in five of those who have not faced any discrimination in their working lives, the report said.

Psychological violence and harassment was the most common form, reported by both men and women, with 17.9 per cent of workers experiencing it at some point during their employment, the report said.

Around 8.5 per cent of those surveyed said they experienced physical violence and harassment at work, with men more likely than women, and about 6.3 per cent experienced sexual violence and harassment, 8.2 per cent of them women and 5 per cent of them men.

More than 60 per cent of the victims of violence and harassment at work reported that it had happened to them multiple times, and for the most, the most recent incident took place within the last five years, the report said.

The study also found that people who experienced discrimination at some point in their life based on gender, disability status, nationality, ethnicity, skin colour or religion were more likely to experience violence or harassment at work than those who didn´t face such discrimination.

The report said statistics on violence and harassment in the world of work are sporadic and scarce and it represented “the first global exploratory exercise to measure people´s own experiences.”

“Ultimately, stronger evidence will help forge more effective legislation, policies and practices that promote prevention measures, tackle specific risk factions and root causes, and ensure that victims are not left alone in handling these unacceptable occurrences,” the ILO, Lloyd’s and Gallup said.

“It’s painful to learn that people face violence and harassment not just once but multiple times in their working lives,” said Manuela Tomei, ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue.

“Psychological violence and harassment is the most prevalent across countries and women are particularly exposed to sexual violence and harassment. The report tells us about the enormity of task ahead to end violence and harassment in the world of work. I hope it will expedite action on the ground and towards the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 190,” Ms Tomei said.