Report: 40 percent of women report sexual harassment in the workplace

ABC News gathered 10 women from 10 different industries who opened up about being sexually harassed during Good Morning America.

When asked how many of the participants have been sexually harassed over the course of their career, all 10 women raised their hands.

“I worked in restaurants for 10 years, and every time I walked into the kitchen, someone would whistle,” said Blayne, who’s in hospitality services.

“This person used guilt-tripping to try to get me to do sexual activity as compensation,” Samantha, in marketing, said of her experience.

A report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states 6,822 sexual harassment claims were filed with the EEOC in 2015.

The reports states the EEOC “found that when employees were asked, in surveys using a randomly representative sample, if they had experienced “sexual harassment,” without that term being defined in the survey, approximately one in four women (25%) reported experiencing “sexual harassment” in the workplace.”

The report further states the EEOC “found that when employees were asked, in surveys using probability samples, whether they have experienced one or more specific sexually-based behaviors, such as unwanted sexual attention or sexual coercion, the rate of reported harassment rose to approximately 40% of women.”

When sex-based harassment at work is measured by asking about gender harassment, nearly 60% of women report having experienced harassment in surveys, the report states. Gender harassment can include sexually crude terminology or displays.

17 percent of the charges were filed by men, the report states. Texas had the highest percentage of claims nationwide with eleven percent.

Wednesday, a jury found Dona Ana County Treasurer David Gutierrez guilty of gross immorality. Gutierrez, who took the stand in his own defense Wednesday, has been removed from office a month before his term ends.

Gutierrez is accused of offering Olivia Nunez, one of his former employees, $1,000 to have sex with him.

“When I made that statement to her – that was in the context of that statement. I didn’t mean I wanted to have sex with her, I didn’t mean that,” Gutierrez said.

A prosecutor asked Gutierrez is his act was immoral. “I would say yes,” Gutierrez replied.

The prosecutor then asked: “Wouldn’t that be a corrupt thing to do?”

“I don’t know the meaning of corruption. I thought that always meant stealing or embezzling or doing something like that,” Gutierrez answered.

Nunez wiped away tears on the witness stand as she recalled Gutierrez offering her money for a few hours in a hotel room.

“He asked me if I had money problems, I told him no,” Nunez said. “He told me he really liked me, if I would spend a couple hours in a hotel with him and I told him no I wasn’t a prostitute, that if i needed money I will get a second or third job that I wasn’t the type of person to do those things.”

She also told the court her boss would consistently make inappropriate comments about her clothes and appearance. She said Gutierrez told her he dreamt about her and wanted her to wear a bikini on a company trip.