Though there may be more gender equality now than there was 100 years ago, the sad reality is that many people still face sexism each day. In the workplace, women continue to struggle to be taken seriously and treated with the same amount of respect as their male colleagues. One of the areas with the most concerning amount of harassment is in the technology field.

According to a 2017 study, almost half the women who enter the technology field end up leaving. Reasons vary, but one of the most common themes that women stated was issues with harassment and a lack of respect. These problems make it hard for women to advance, and for some women, it is discouraging enough to keep them from remaining in tech.

Harassment from male coworkers takes on many forms. Some women report male coworkers and colleagues distract them by constantly attempting to flirt. Inappropriate workplace flirtations take an even darker turn because men continue even when it is clear their attention is unwelcome. This harassment often takes the form of online stalking and cyberbullying in technology companies. Women report dealing with men who send them lewd photos and messages on a fairly regular basis. This harassment can be quite challenging to deal with because online anonymity makes it difficult to prove who is doing the harassment.

In smaller tech companies, there may be no human resources representative and the managers may be friends with the harassers. Women report that they do not feel comfortable reporting harassment in many cases because their companies subtly discourage any negative reports. Those who choose to file complaints often have their reputations blackened by the claim they are troublemakers who are overly sensitive or cannot take jokes.

Another issue for women in tech is that they often have to deal with men assuming that they are less intelligent or motivated. There are countless tales of women being belittled and having less qualified men try to explain basic concepts to them, or having people assume they are a very low-level employee. This lack of respect means that women are not hired as often as men. Many tech companies end up with a drastically skewed ratio of men to women. According to one employee at Tesla, her department actually had more men named Matt than women at all.

These issues are serious and must be addressed by all members of our society, whether male or female, or working in tech or some other industry. Women have just as much to offer when it comes to the technology industry and it’s time we start treating them like it. We all need to step up to end the issue of harassment of women in tech.