15th September 2025
Three times more residents know a woman who has experienced sexual harassment than a man with the same experience, according to a survey commissioned by the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. The data also shows that society expects greater responsibility from employers in ensuring a safe work environment.
Women’s and Men’s Experiences Viewed Separately
35 % of residents say they know a woman who has experienced sexual harassment at least once, but only 10% say they know a man who has had such an experience. This reflects real-life patterns – women are more likely than men to experience sexual harassment.
Responses also vary by the respondent’s gender: women are more likely than men to know a woman who has experienced sexual harassment (40 % vs. 29 %), while men are more likely than women to report knowing a man who has experienced harassment (12 % vs. 8 %).
“These figures suggest that conversations about such experiences often take place in closed circles – women are more likely to share with other women, men within male environments,” says Mintautė Jurkutė, expert at the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson’s Office.
Society Expects Employer Responsibility
Sexual harassment remains a pressing issue in the workplace. According to the State Data Agency, one in five women (19.1 %) and one in fifteen men (6.6 %) in Lithuania have experienced sexual harassment at work during their lifetime.
Nearly 8 out of 10 survey respondents agreed that employers must ensure that sexual harassment does not occur in the workplace.
“It is clear that society places strong expectations on employers to ensure safe environments. Yet in practice, preventive measures often stop at formal documentation,” notes Jurkutė.
According to her, simply having a written policy does not guarantee a safe work environment – it is essential that employees know where to report, how cases of sexual harassment are handled, and what consequences perpetrators face. “Otherwise, we risk that such cases will remain unnoticed or minimized,” Jurkutė adds.
The representative survey of Lithuanian residents was conducted on July 18–25, 2025, by Spinter tyrimai. A total of 1,009 people aged 18 and over were interviewed.
The survey is part of the project “VIOLET: Towards workplaces without sexual harassment and violence“, funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. The European Union cannot be held responsible for them.”