A third of female workers for ScotRail have reported being subjected to sexual harassment while doing their jobs, according to a new survey.

The representative survey, conducted in November by RMT, asked female ScotRail employees to detail their experiences of harassment in the workplace.

Around 10% of all ScotRail employees took part in the survey, which found that the vast majority of harassment incidents go unreported through official channels.

The rail industry has been attempting to address issues surrounding sexual harassment with awareness campaigns for several years, but reports of incidents involving inappropriate behaviour from passengers remains high.

According to RMT’s new survey, while 1 in 3 women working for ScotRail state that they have experienced sexual harassment, only around 20% of incidents are officially reported.

The most common reason for low levels of escalation for harassment incidents of this nature is that the women involved doubt that their complaints or concerns will be taken seriously.

Respondents made it clear that they had not only experienced harassment aimed at themselves, but commonly witnessed members of the public harassing fellow passengers. Over 50% of those surveyed said that they had seen such a case of passenger harassment within the last year.

In addition to reports of overt sexual harassment, 70% of respondents reported experiencing workplace violence in the last year. The majority of these cases occurred when they respondents were working alone, without other colleagues to assist them or deter violent passengers.

Over 75% of participants in the survey feel that workplace sexual harassment is getting worse, and less than 25% stated that they felt safe at work.

Anonymous comments made in the survey related some of the experiences that these women had faced:

“A male passenger shouted she’s getting it whether she likes it or not when I entered the coach he was sitting in.”

“There is absolutely no deterrent for any sort of anti-social behaviour on the railways as far as I can see. I personally have appeared in court on numerous occasions and have never seen anybody convicted yet.”

“Violence in all forms is an everyday and every journey occurrence.”

“People notice when there is no staff and use that to their advantage not to be caught.”

“Lone women and girls travelling late at night have stated they don’t feel safe when there isn’t other staff on board DOO services.”

“Ticket offices are a safe haven in often isolated stations. Having ticket office staff to talk to or report behaviour too is much safer than having to speak to a help point and have nobody to protect you.”

“It needs to be managed better…Ticket examiners have men asking them on a weekly basis for sex in the bathrooms, it’s not reported because it doesn’t get taken seriously.”

Over 90% of survey respondents raised concerns that plans to reduce ticket office hours and extend Driver Only Operation (DOO) would make travel far less safe for female passengers.

One way that National Rail has been working to raise awareness of sexual harassment and educate passengers about inappropriate behaviour has involved an interactive VR film.

While this may help to educate passengers about the need for changes in behaviour, many respondents to the RMT survey pointed to the need for stronger action offenders and better staffing numbers to reduce sexual harassment.

According to RMT general secretary Mick Lynch:

“Our women members in Scotland must be commended for coming forward and speaking out about some truly harrowing experiences of sexual harassment and violence on Scotland’s railways.

“Misogyny on our railways and in wider society must be confronted head on and a zero tolerance must be adopted to those who assault, intimidate and harass our members regardless of their background.

“We hope the Scottish government will take seriously the figures and the testimony our women members have given. particularly around safe staffing and the valuable contribution ticket offices make to the railway network.”