In late 2020, the SDA surveyed 2,338 members and 17 employers. The key findings of the survey read as follows:<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 88% of respondents had experienced verbal abuse in the previous 12 months.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 Almost half of the members who experienced verbal abuse in the previous 12 months said it occurred weekly or monthly.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 Female members were more likely to have experienced verbal abuse from a customer (89%) than male members (83%).<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 Almost 8% of respondents said they had been the victim of physical violence from a customer in the previous 12 months.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 11% of respondents said they had experienced incidents of customer abuse that was sexual in nature.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 70% of respondents said that abuse and violence was more frequent during COVID-19.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 More than 1 out of 5 of members (21.5%) said they had been coughed on or spat at during Covid-19.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 71% of respondents said the experience of customer abuse and violence had impacted their physical or mental health.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 Only 58.5% of respondents said they had reported an incident of abuse or violence to their employer.<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 Young workers were much less likely to report an incident of customer abuse and violence because they didn\u2019t think it was serious enough or nothing would be done, or it wouldn\u2019t be taken seriously.<\/p>\r\n
Voices from the frontline: \u201cCustomer said she hoped I would get cancer\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Here are some comments from workers responding to SDA\u2019s survey:<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 \u201cI was hit on the head with a pvc pipe, and had a packet of deadlocks thrown at me.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 \u201cCustomers constantly threaten, swear and throw things at me.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 \u201cI was grabbed by my throat by a male customer.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 \u201cCustomer requested donation that was rejected. Customer said she hoped I would get cancer.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
\u00b7 \u201cI was copping verbal abuse from customers at least a couple times a week for doing my job, which culminated in being physically assaulted and suffering concussion. I was off work for a month.\u201d<\/p>\r\n