'It's not a compliment.' Women speak out on LinkedIn harassment

A growing chorus of women have been reporting harassment and inappropriate behaviour on LinkedIn and are speaking out on the daily abuse they face while navigating the professional world online.

This is the behaviour women are reporting on LinkedIn, the professional networking site with close to 800 million users in 200 countries worldwide.

While harmful and abusive behaviour online is something women have experienced since the internet was first created –with much reported about harassment experienced on sites like Facebook and Twitter -- LinkedIn, where users seek professional connections, has now been added to the list of online spaces where women say harassment occurs daily.

Women and girls are at greater risk of experiencing violence online, especially severe types of harassment and sexual abuse, according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and in the 2020 Statistics Canada Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work, 25 per cent of women surveyed said they had been personally targeted with sexualized behaviours in the workplace, including online work.

Women who had been targeted “usually said that a man was always responsible” the survey stated, including 56 per cent of those surveyed who experienced inappropriate communication, 67 per cent of those who experienced being exposed to sexually explicit materials and 78 per cent of those who experienced unwanted physical contact or suggested sexual relations.