A NEW report has revealed widespread sexism and bias in the global whisky industry, with almost half of those in consumer-facing roles reporting inappropriate physical behaviour.
The report published is based on the world’s first global survey of women in whisky – Do You Even Like Whisky? The Barriers Holding Back Women in the Industry – conducted in July 2023 by the OurWhisky Foundation.
Of the 600 female respondents – who represent a variety of countries and job roles – 87% felt that they experience more challenges in the workplace than their male counterparts, with 89% agreeing that consumers still widely perceive whisky to be a man’s drink.
The participants cited the top three most significant challenges facing women in the industry as unconscious bias (84%), stereotyping (76%) and a lack of representation (54%).
70% of all respondents said they’d experienced inappropriate or sexual remarks while doing their job, while 33% have been inappropriately touched; this figure rose to 44% among those working as brand ambassadors, in retail or hospitality.
89% of women working in consumer-facing roles said they had been spoken over or had their knowledge questioned when conducting a tasting, while 83% have experienced customers preferring to talk to a male colleague.
This isn’t a historic problem: 27% of consumer-facing women who’ve been working in the industry for less than five years said they’d been inappropriately touched.
When it comes to parenthood, 62% of respondents said they were concerned about the impact becoming a parent will have on their career, with 41% of mothers not feeling supported when returning to work.
When it comes to whisky advertising and marketing, just 16% felt women were fairly represented, with only 10% agreeing women are fairly represented by the media.
Becky Paskin, founder of the OurWhisky Foundation, said: “It’s important to realise that while it’s perhaps easy to shrug off a solo incident, these micro aggressions build up over time to have a devastating impact on the women in our industry.
“The escalation of these attitudes into inappropriate verbal and physical behaviour cannot be ignored. The industry needs to take this issue extremely seriously.”
Millie Milliken, head of content and the Develop Programmes at the OurWhisky Foundation, said: “If you break these percentages down into real-life numbers, the figures are sobering.
“Luckily, there are tangible solutions that can be implemented by businesses to counteract these issues and actively reduce those numbers.”
The OurWhisky Foundation has identified several key areas to tackle sexism in the industry, including improving representation of women in advertising and marketing – avoiding stereotyping – and implementing bystander training and anti-harassment policies.
