Why don’t witnesses want to come forward?
A recent study by a U.K. based organization, Spot conducted research on why bystanders don’t report inappropriate behaviour. The study titled, “Witnessing workplace harassment and discrimination: Overcoming the ‘social contagion’ of toxic work culture,” was conducted at U.K. universities and various NGOs in 2019. Approximately 889 people from the U.S., U.K. and Australia completed the survey in its entirety.
The study found that 79% of survey participants reported witnessing harassment and discrimination in the workplace within the past five years; of those, 42% witnessed an incident in the past year. Of those who witnessed harassment and discrimination, 77% did not report the incident. The most common reasons participants gave for not reporting what they witnessed were: “(1) being worried about the consequences, (2) not wanting to interfere, (3) not knowing that witnesses could report, (4) not wanting to be a snitch, and (5) not knowing how to report.”
The Report provided recommendations:
“Harness the knowledge of witnesses for understanding harassment and discrimination in the workplace.”
“Communicate internally that witnesses can report harassment and discrimination to HR, and educate them on the process for doing so.”
“Educateemployeesonhowtobeagoodallyandontheproblems,suchas compromising anonymity, associated with not asking for permission before telling colleagues about an incident.”
“Provide an efficient, anonymous, online reporting option for reporting inappropriate workplace behavior.”
Many bystanders don’t intervene or report the incident because they are afraid of the consequences or don’t know how to manage the situation. It is important for employers to promote policies, train employees and empower them to report incidents by highlighting the protections provided to prevent reprisals.