Nearly nine in 10 women in Belgium say they have experienced sexism at work, yet fewer than one in four report it, according to research by JUMP – Solutions for Equity at Work.
Sexism continues to affect a staggering number of women across workplaces in Belgium, regardless of their position or sector, the findings showed. Out of 5,214 people surveyed, of whom nearly 1,000 were men, 98% of women reported that they had experienced a minimum of one form of sexism in their lifetime, with 87% also saying they had experienced it at work.
Accounts varied, ranging from inappropriate or lewd comments to more serious forms of discrimination or harassment. Inappropriate remarks were the most commonly reported form of harassment, with 88% of women saying they had experienced them. Meanwhile, 58% of women reported having received inappropriate looks or unwanted advances made towards them.
JUMP’s findings also showed that workplace sexism is not confined to certain work environments or hierarchy structures; 90% of female salaried executives reported experiencing sexism at work, a 5% increase from female employees.
More serious forms of sexism and harassment were also widely reported, with 27% of women saying they had experienced moral harassment because of their gender, while 21% reported sexual harassment. More than half (54%) said they experienced professional discrimination or exclusion, and 12% reported experiencing a sexual offense.
Other surveys like the one from the European Union Survey on Gender-Based Violence found that 32.9% of women in Belgium have experienced sexual harassment at work at least once in their lifetime. Among women aged 18 to 29, the proportion rises to 45.9%.
A widespread problem hidden by silence
Despite such high statistics, most women do not report their experiences: over three-fourths of women do not report when they are victims of discrimination, harassment or sexism in the workplace.
Many factors likely contribute to this silence, including a fear of retaliation, the normalisation of the behaviour or even a lack of confidence in their workplace's procedures for handling the situation.
Roughly two-thirds of respondents claim they do not feel protected by their employer, and one in five report they have been punished or received consequences for filing a report.
Only 19.7% of women involved in these situations contacted a prevention advisor or confidential counsellor, while nearly three in ten employees reportedly are unaware of where they could seek help.
Call to action
An opinion published Tuesday by The Brussels Council for Equality between Women and Men (RGVM) claims the scale of workplace sexism is not only an issue of equality and dignity, but also a broader occupational health concern.
The Council argues that persistent exposure to sexist behavior can contribute to psychosocial risks like chronic stress, burnout and anxiety. It points to research on "allostatic load", which describes the biological cost of continuously adapting to stressful environments.
According to the Council, this link remains largely absent from Belgium’s current approach to workplace prevention, where, in their eyes, sexism is often treated as an interpersonal or relational issue rather than a structural risk.
To address this, the Council is calling for sexism, including everyday and workplace sexism, to be explicitly recognised within Belgium’s occupational well-being framework and included in assessments of psychosocial risks.
It also wants employers to strengthen prevention and reporting mechanisms by introducing zero-tolerance policies, incorporating a gender perspective into workplace risk assessments and regularly collecting data on employee experiences.
These recommendations seek to shift the burden away from the affected women, and onto their employers and institutions, as the Council argued that preventing sexism should be viewed as a structural responsibility instead of something that’s left to victims to report after it occurs.
