'Dozens' of young women face sexual harassment in financial services

The Financial Times contacted "dozens" of young people working in financial services, who told the paper they had been inappropriately propositioned and harassed as a result of their gender.

A 35-year-old trader who worked in London, Hong Kong and Paris said she experienced men behaving "horrendously", including repeated attempts to kiss her and sending her inappropriate messages, despite her conscious decision to dress "like a man" to avoid attention.

Other women reported feeling as though their gender was working against them.

One woman who works for a US bank told the FT she was treated as clerical staff and asked to book meetings despite her role as a software developer. Meanwhile, a 23-year-old working for a UK bank said the "biggest issue" she faced was convincing colleague she was competent at maths, Excel and data, and that she was "thought of as not very intelligent based on the way I look".

Some respondents said women were not coming forward for fear of developing a reputation having reported a sexual harassment allegation or being branded a "snowflake".

'Millennials are too sensitive' 

However, not all millennials that spoke to the paper thought sexual harassment and gender discrimination were a problem for their generation.

A 21-year-old Russian working in London said the topic of sexual harassment was "paid too much attention", meanwhile a French economic consultant also in London said while she had heard "more complaints" from her peers, she did not think they were a problem, and that millennials are too sensitive about gender issues.  

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