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Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment Measurement for Survey Research

This compilation presents a rapid review of measures conducted in Jan- March 2025 for the UN Women Policy Brief [hyperlink]. We reviewed publications from January 1990 to January 2025 across the databases PsycINFO, Scopus, and PubMed.This compilation includes 35 measures of sexual harassment (SH) representing measures across diverse country settings including India, Jordan, Spain and USA, and among adult and adolescent samples.


Measuring sexual harassment is complex due to definitional ambiguity, frequent underreporting and a normative acceptance of harassment behaviours in some contexts. While there has been significant progress in measuring and preventing workplace sexual harassment, less attention has been given to public and online spaces. Furthermore, a substantial knowledge gap remains regarding the short- and long-term impacts on victims and the broader societal factors that enable sexual harassment.

Resource Table

Measure Name Sample Location of the Study (Country) Setting of the SH Measurement (Workplace, Public spaces, Educational institution, Digital spaces)
Worksite Harassment Tool (modified) Female long haul truck drivers USA Workplace
Psychological Climate for Sexual Harassment (PCSH) Women officers in the Swedish Armed Forces Sweden Workplace
Composite Abuse Scale (CAS) Female nurses in a public teaching hospital Australia Educational Institution
Gender Attitudes Scale / Attitudes Condoning Violence Against Girls Boys in an urban neighbourhood India Public Space
Sexual Experiences Questionnaire- Workplace (SEQ-W) Male and Female football referees Spain Workplace
Sexual Experiences Questionnaire- Department of Defense (SEQ-DoD-s) Military personnel USA USA Workplace
Sexual Harassment Reporting Attitudes Scale (SHRAS) Adults Global Workplace
Coercive Sexual Environments (CSE) Scale in Children Adult and youth respondents living in public housing USA Public spaces
Homophobic Content Agent Target (HCAT) scale (Spanish version) High school students Spain Educational Institution Public spaces
Social Reactions Questionnaire- Shortened (SRQ-S) College and community samples USA Not specified
Index to Measure the Exposure Level of UN Peacekeeper-Perpetrated Sexual Exploitation/Abuse Men and women aged 13 years or older in UN bases Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Not specified
Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) - Selfprotection and Prevention strategy Children at public elementary schools Ecuador Not specified
Sexual Experiences Questionnaire- Workplace (SEQ-W) Female professional, technical, clerical and blue collar workers USA Workplace
Harassment and Control by Electronic tools (HCE-2) Young women Spain Digital spaces
Schedule of Sexist Events (SSE) Adults USA Workplace, Public spaces
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Stigma Scale Young women and girls Ghana Not specified
Culture Conducive to Women’s Academic Success (CCWAS) Women faculty members from academic health centers USA Workplace
Peer Sexual Harassment Survey Female adolescents Spain Italy Public spaces
Sexual Harassment Proclivity Scale College males USA Educational Institution
Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire (CDAQ) Young adults Spain Digital spaces
Nurses' Attitudes toward Disclosure of Workplace Sexual Harassment Scale (NAWSHD-S) Nurses Iran Workplace
Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale-Perpetration Version (ISOS-P) College men USA Not specified
Acceptance of Myths About Cyber- Sexual Violence Against Women (AMCYS) Scale Users of X and other social media platforms Spain, USA Digital spaces
Online Sexual Harassment Scale Adults UK Digital spaces
Sexual Harassment Inventory (SHI) Military veterans USA Workplace
Women's SH Perceptions Questionnaire for Hospitality Workplaces (PSHQ_HW); Women's SH Experiences Questionnaire for Hospitality Workplaces (SEQ_HW); Women's SH Coping Mechanisms for Hospitality Workplaces (SHCQ_HW) Women employees Ethiopia Workplace
PSH-C (Peer Sexual Harassment Among Children) Children, ages 10-12 Sweden Educational Institution
Nurses Sexual Harassment Scale (NSHS) Nurses Iran Public and private hospitals
Moral Disengagement in Sexual Harassment Scale (MDiSH) University and working males UK, USA University, Workplace
Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ)-Jordan University women Jordan Educational Institution
Multidimensional Online Grooming Questionnaire (MOGQ) Adolescents, ages 12-15 Spain Digital spaces
Experience of Digital Abuse measure Adults and adolescents USA Digital spaces
Self-reported victimization from sexual harassment and assault Adults USA Workplace, Public spaces, Digital spaces

Additional Resources:

  1. Rafin, R., Airoldi, G., Rao, N., & Raj, A. (2025). A scoping review of measures and definitions to address methodological and evidence gaps on sexual harassment. Statistical Journal of the IAOS, 41(3), 661-682.
  2. UN Women’s Global Database on Violence against Women and Girls (https://data.unwomen.org/global-database-on-violence-against-women)
  3. ILO, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, and Gallup’s “Experiences of violence and harassment at work: A global first survey” (https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/experiences-violence-and-harassment-work-global-first-survey)
  4. World Bank’s “Women, Business and the Law” Indicators (https://wbl.worldbank.org/en/data/exploretopics/wbl_sj)
  5. UN Women’s System-wide Knowledge Hub on Addressing Sexual Harassment https://shknowledgehub.unwomen.org/en
  6. Stop Street Harassment and #MeToo Survey Data(https://newcomb.tulane.edu/content/metoo-research)
  7. Viswanath, K., & Basu, A. (2015). SafetiPin: an innovative mobile app to collect data on women’s safety in Indian cities. Gender & Development, 23(1), 45-60.

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