(AFP) Women in Asia are moving into the labour force in record numbers, but increasingly they occupy the bottom rungs of the employment ladder, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said today.

"(This) is leading to an increase in the scale and risk of sexual harassment at work," an ILO technical report said.

It said women now comprise an increasing share of the world's labour force - at least one-third in all regions except Northern Africa and Western Asia and well over 40 percent in East, Southeast and Central Asia.

The report said the majority of Asia's women workers are found in jobs with low security, low pay, low status and poor working conditions - all characteristics which enhance the risk of sexual harassment.

True picture

The report and its conclusions would be considered by representatives of government, employer and worker organistions from 15 countries at the ILO/Japan Regional Tripartite seminar on sexual harassment at work, a three-day seminar beginning today in northern Penang state.

The report said drawing a true picture of sexual harassment in the workplace was difficult, but that the "the scale of sexual harassment in the workplace has increased considerably during the last two decades."

"Factors include fear of retaliation, or of losing desperately needed inclome; so much so the number of reported cases is only the tip of the iceberg," the report said.

It said sexual harassment ranges from the most extreme forms - sexual assault and rape - to sexual blackmail and creating a hostile working environment.