THE majority of black women have experienced sexual harassment at work with many comments rooted in racism, a new report has found.

Research by the TUC revealed that 65 per cent of black women reported experiencing sexual harassment of some form, with high rates of unwelcome verbal sexual advances, unwanted touching or sexual jokes. 

Thirty-five per cent of respondents to the union body’s survey said that they had experienced negative, gender-based attitudes that diminish women in general, or black women specifically.

More than 70 per cent said they had been bullied or harassed at work, with 53 reporting that they had been subjected to racist comments made in their presence.

Of those who experienced sexual harassment, 58 per cent said they did not report it to their employer, with 38 per cent saying because they thought it would not be taken seriously if they did.

The TUC also found that many of the sexual harassment cases the black women experienced had racial overtones, with one woman saying: “It’s very specific what they say about our bodies.”

Black Activists Against Cuts national chairwoman Zita Holbourne said that black women “face double discrimination” as the legacies of colonialism and enslavement have left them to face “both [being] fetishised and seen as having less value and worth.”

“This research and reports confirm what many of us as black women activists already knew to be true through our collective lived experiences but plays an important role in highlighting just how huge a problem it is,” she said.

Ms Holbourne, who is on the TUC black women and sexual harassment advisory group which commissioned the report, said that many black women were “suffering in silence” because they fear they will not be believed, and no action will be taken against perpetrators in workplaces “entrenched in institutional racism.”

“Employers must tackle these issues head-on and ensure workplaces are safe places for black women,” she said.

“But revelations over recent years of shocking conduct by trade unions mean unions must get their own houses in order if black women trade union members are to have any faith and trust in them.”

The women in the report also spoke about not having an effective support system to help them challenge their organisation, nor a route to hold their employer to account.