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Silicon Valley Harassment Statistics: Shocking Details Surrounding Tech Industry Revealed In New Survey

By Christian Savoy
Published on: 05:19 PST, Jan 16, 2016

The Silicon Valley harassment statistics are in, and the disturbing stats revealed some pretty shocking details surrounding the tech industry. According to a new study, called “Elephant in the Valley,” 60 percent of women surveyed reported unwanted sexual advances, two-thirds of which came from a superior. A report from Recode said that the survey only focused on women with several years of experience in Silicon Valley.

The tech survey was conducted by Trae Vassallo and Michele Madansky. Among other things, the results of the survey revealed that of 200 women working at companies such as Google, Apple, and other large tech companies as well as start-ups, 90 percent recalled experiencing “sexist behavior at company offsites and/or industry conferences,” 60 percent reported “being the target of unwanted sexual advances from a superior,” and 60 percent of those who reported sexual harassment were “dissatisfied with the outcome.”

The below list are just a few results of the study. The full survey can be viewed at ElephantInTheValley.

  • 84 percent of women had been told that they were too “aggressive.”
  • 66 percent felt excluded from social and networking opportunities because of their gender.
  • 88 percent had clients and colleagues address questions to male peers that should have been addressed to them.
  • 75 percent were asked about family life, marital status and children in interviews.
  • 60 percent reported unwanted sexual advances, two-thirds of which came from a superior.
  • 39 percent of women who were harassed did nothing for fear of retribution.
  • 60 percent who did report harassment say they were dissatisfied with the results.

As said in a report from Tech Mic, the Silicon Valley harassment statistics highlight an abundance of discrimination and sexual harassment in the workforce of the high tech sector firms in California.

Sexual harassment knows no borders and all environments, even the most prestigious, are affected. Discrimination and sexual harassment are widespread in the tech industry, according to this new survey.

“What we realized is that while many women shared similar workplace stories, most men were simply shocked and unaware of the issues facing women in the workplace,” Madansky said.”In an effort to correct the massive information disparity, we decided to get the data and the stories.”

Vassallo also weighed in on the matter and she told Recode that “this isn’t asking your coworker on a date. These are power play situations, where you’re turning someone down in a sexual way, and there’s some sort of meaningful impact on your ability to do your job.”

“It isn’t just colleagues not behaving well,” Vasallo explained. “These are bosses, people in superior situations, doing this to women they’re supposed to be helping mentor.”

The fight to end sexual harassment against women in Silicon Valley continues and the story of Ellen Pao, the former interim chief executive officer of Internet giant Reddit, was reportedly the inspiration for Vasallo and Madansky to embark on this revealing study.

After interviewing 200 women with at least 10 years of experience in tech companies located in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area, they gathered their evidence and observations in a report titled “Elephant in the Valley.” As the results show, many women said they had experienced unwanted sexual advances, and an alarming number say they have been harassed, but didn’t report it due to fear of reprisals.

[Image via Justin Sullivan/ Getty Images]

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