By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Nearly four out of every 10 female telemarketers have experienced sexual harassment while working, the National Human Rights Commission said Thursday. However, the majority of the victims did not know how to respond to the offenses, worsening the situation, the agency said.

According to research by The Korean Contingent Workers Center on 559 female workers at call centers last year, 37 percent said they had been sexually harassed during work. The majority of the offenders were customers via telephone, accounting for 78 percent of cases; with managers and colleagues at work following at 13 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.

Most of the victims were subject to lewd speech or groaning over the phone, while tele-shopping mall staff said customers used to ask their breast size while ostensibly shopping for lingerie.

Most hang up the phone and disregard such cases. Only 12 percent and 11 percent said they forwarded the calls to managers or took issue with the conversations, respectively. About 90 percent said their companies do not have a protocol for such circumstances, although 45 percent said the companies had preventive measures.

``These so-called telemarketers were paid 1.34 million won a month, including their bonuses, which is smaller than pay for workers in other industries,'' the commission said. ``Therefore, with working environments like this, workers stay at the company for an average of 3.1 years, which is just one-third of the time spent in other industries. It's time to start thinking about these workers' rights,'' the commission said.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr