Nearly one in three men in Lithuania would hide experiencing workplace sexual harassment

Nearly one in three men in Lithuania would keep silent if they experienced sexual harassment at work, according to a nationally representative survey commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson’s Office and published Monday.

The survey, conducted in December 2025 by research firm Spinter tyrimai, found that 28% of male respondents would not report workplace sexual harassment, while 21% admitted they would not know how to respond. In contrast, 70% of women said they would report such incidents, with only 16% choosing to remain silent.

When asked whom they would inform, both men and women most frequently named their supervisor (41%) or a designated responsible person at work (38%). Men were significantly less likely than women to discuss the issue with a colleague or friend.

Mintautė Jurkutė, an expert at the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson’s Office, noted that the findings reflect a stronger stigma for men in disclosing harassment or negative experiences. “The fact that one-third of women would also not report workplace harassment—or wouldn’t know how—is concerning,” she said. “This silence is often tied to fear of negative consequences, secondary victimisation, or blame.”

Jurkutė highlighted a gap between public attitudes and actual behaviour: while 25% of men and 21% of women in the survey claimed they would report harassment to the ombudsperson’s office, the institution receives only a few such complaints annually.

According to Eurostat data, one in five women (19.1%) in Lithuania has experienced workplace sexual harassment. The 2025 survey also revealed that 35% of respondents know at least one woman who has faced such harassment, while 10% know at least one affected man.

The study sampled 1,012 adults aged 18 and older.