The Scarring Effects of Workplace Sexual Harassment

We provide new causal evidence on the labor market consequences of workplace sex-ual harassment using matched survey and administrative data from Denmark. Both women and men experience persistent earnings losses of around 6 percent, with losses doubling among those who change employers. These effects are not driven by non-employment or occupational downgrading but by moves to lower-paying firms. A sub-stantial share of harassment comes from clients—particularly for women—highlighting the need for broader anti-harassment policies. Our findings reveal the long-term eco-nomic scars of harassment and gendered patterns in firm mobility, sorting, and pro-ductivity that persist beyond job transitions.