‘A Man’s Drink’: 70% Of Women in the Whiskey Industry Report Sexual Harassment in Sobering Survey

A survey titled “Do You Even Like Whiskey” revealed that 70% of women experienced sexual harassment while working in whiskey. (Photo: David Cheskin/PA Wire URN:7222215)

A survey titled “Do You Even Like Whiskey,” conducted by OurWhiskey Foundation in July, found that of 600 women working in the whiskey industry, 70% reported facing sexual harassment while doing their job. The results covering sexual harassment and unconscious gender biases within the industry first hit Scottish news outlet,  The National on Sunday and have been making waves ever since.

The statistics were sobering, to say the least.

OurWhisky Foundation’s study found that 70% of individuals experienced inappropriate or sexual remarks while doing their job, and 30% had been inappropriately touched in the workplace. Forty-four percent experienced unwanted physical contact while working in consumer-facing roles, and 74% have felt discriminated against due to their gender.

According to The National, these “widespread examples of unconscious bias” could “have a devastating impact.”

To make the study even more grim, 27% of these women working in the industry for five years or less faced these instances of sexual harassment — making the problem a current one.

“The escalation of these attitudes into inappropriate verbal and physical behavior cannot be ignored. The industry needs to take this issue extremely seriously,” OurWhisky Foundation founder Becky Paskin said.

As far as women in consumer-facing roles, 89% of them claimed their customers thought of whiskey as “a man’s drink.”

To further emphasize the gender biases within the industry, 70% of women working in whiskey faced additional fears that motherhood would adversely impact their careers.

As far as the challenges participants faced while working in whiskey, the biggest ones cited were unconscious bias at 84% and stereotyping at 76%.

81% of the participants working in the whiskey industry were asked if they “actually liked whisky,” while at work despite their choices to work in the trade.

Sexual Harassment, an Industry-Wide Issue

Sadly, gender bias and sexual harassment are systemic issues within the alcoholic beverage trade.

In 2020, Julia Mosken penned a piece in the New York Times about the Court of Master Sommeliers having a sexual harassment problem. Twenty-one women informed The New York Times that they had been sexually harassed and exploited by male master sommeliers.

Isolated incidents included a Master Sommelier in Texas asking a student for “a pair of her underwear to snuggle with.”

Multiple women cited the slur, “sommsucker” as a term used for women who had relationships with the masters in the court. Though the findings resulted in the dismissal of six Master Sommeliers, it is clear the issue of sexual harassment is an insidious one that still plagues the alcoholic beverage industry.

The study highlighting the struggles women in whiskey face concluded with Paskin making the following statement:

“While the whisky industry appears to be taking steps towards inclusion and better representation, this survey clearly shows women feel they aren’t supported enough. It’s time the industry sits up and really listens to women’s voices.”

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