About 165,000 working women were sexually harassed in 2011, according to figures released, Sunday, by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The number amounts to 11.4 percent of the female work force.
In announcing the statistics, Minister Shalom Simchon said, "Victimsof harassmentin societyaremany,whenthe injury, you must know,goesevenfar beyondthe directvictims,and influenceonothercircles,and an organizationas a whole. Incidents of sexual harassment, beyond their crime andseriousness,joina series ofbarriers, at different levels of severity, thatwomenfacewhenthey want tojoin the work forceor move up in it. "