It may not involve wolf-whistling or jokes about dolly-birds, but sexual harassment of men at work is rife, says a survey which claims that four male workers in five suffer from the problem.

Guys feel that they have to endure in silence, says a survey of 2,300 men by Peninsula, an employment law company. “The balance has shifted and it is now women who are aiming sexual banter at male workers,” the company adds, saying that two thirds of men now think that randy badinage should be banned from offices.

But this report is nothing new. Two years ago, a study by the Department of Trade and Industry found that a quarter of men felt sexually pestered. Male victims were more likely than women to complain of feeling denigrated for their gender – for example, feeling that their female managers treat women more favourably then men or criticise male employees more regularly.

It seems that we are in the world of perceived harassment, rather than obvious bum-pinching stuff. This is a logical consequence of decades of consciousness-raising about equal-gender behaviour: everyone now feels readier to spot behaviour that can be labelled harassment.

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It doesn’t help that there is a broad “harmless joke” category which allows women to feel that it is perfectly OK to comment about male colleagues’ inability to multi-task, shop enthusiastically or express their feelings.

Heat magazine culture also means that so-called ladette behaviour, such as letching at pictures of rippling male parts, is now considered healthy, ironic, postmodern fun.

So where do we go from here? Perhaps the only fair way to take gender equality to its natural conclusion is to ensure that workplaces are devoid of sexuality. Putting bromide in the tea of prisoners was once used to defuse their sex drives. Perhaps it ought to be put in the office air-conditioning.

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