More than half, or 52%, of women, and 63% of women aged 18-24 years old, said they have experienced sexual harassment at work, according to a new research from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in collaboration with the Everyday Sexism Project.

The study, called Still just a bit of banter?, is the largest of its kind for a generation and cited by leading academic Dr. Jane Pillinger as one of the most extensive pieces of research on sexual harassment at work in Europe.

It was carried out by YouGov and is based on the opinion of women who are working or who have ever had a job, and were happy to be surveyed about this topic from an overall sample of British adults.

It reveals that of those surveyed nearly one in three, or 32%, of women have been subject to unwelcome jokes of a sexual nature while at work. Meanwhile, 28% of women have been the subject of comments of a sexual nature about their body or clothes at work. Moreover, 23% of women have experienced unwanted touching – like a hand on the knee or lower back at work. The findings also show that a fifth, or 20%, of women have experienced unwanted verbal sexual advances at work and around one in eight, or 12%, of women have experienced unwanted sexual touching or attempts to kiss them at work.

In the vast majority of cases (88%), the perpetrator of the sexual harassment was male, and nearly one in five (17%) women reported that it was their line manager, or someone with direct authority over them.

The survey also finds that around four out of five, or 79% of women who said they experienced sexual harassment at work did not tell their employer about what was happening.

Of this group, some thought reporting it would impact negatively on their relationships at work (28%) or on their career prospects (15%), while others were too embarrassed to talk about it (20%) or felt they would not be believed or taken seriously (24%).

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Employers must be clear they have a zero tolerance attitude to sexual harassment and treat any complaint seriously. It’s a scandal that so few women feel their bosses are dealing with the issue properly.

The study is also the first to include the opinion of women who identify as black, minority and ethnic origin (BME) who say they have been harassed at work.

“Many people would like to think that workplace sexual harassment is a thing of the past. In reality, it is alive and well, and having a huge impact on tens of thousands of women’s lives, Laura Bates, founder of The Everyday Sexism Project, said. “These findings reveal the shameful extent of the problem and the reality of the touching, unwanted advances, and inappropriate comments women find themselves confronted with while simply trying to do their jobs.”