54% of women in the public sector appear to have been bullied in the last 3 years

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 23rd Sep 2005

Solihull MP Lorely Burt today expressed concern that bullying in the public sector is increasing, following a detailed report on the subject by the Chartered Management Institute.

Lorely commented: "Women are more likely to be bullied in the public sector. The CMI report shows that 54% of women in the public sector have suffered from bullying in the past three years, compared to 35% of men. Both of these figures are unacceptable - the public sector has to do better in this area."

The CMI report found that the most common forms of bullying are misuse of power or position in 78 per cent of cases, with verbal insults 71 per cent, and exclusion 57 per cent. Physical intimidation or violence are the least common forms, with less than one fifth having been bullied in this way.

Lorely added "I was also disturbed that one third of public sector managers are reporting bullying of managers by junior staff. This shows that bullying can occur right across an organisation. I am therefore writing to Solihull Council, the Primary Care Trust, and other public bodies in Solihull, to ascertain whether there is a co-ordinated strategy between organisations to share good practice, in order to stamp out bullying in the workplace.