One in five people working at Westminster have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour over the last 12 months, according to a leaked survey.
The scale of the problem is laid bare by a new report commissioned by MPs in the wake of allegations about the culture within Parliament.
The survey, obtained by the Independent, is set to be published on Thursday alongside recommendations from a cross-party working group which has examined the problems faced by politicians, aides and parliamentary staff.
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, who chairs the working group, has insisted MPs found to have bullied or abused staff will face "real sanctions" under a new grievance procedure.
Punishments could include being suspended from Parliament and constituents already have the power to effectively sack their MP in some circumstances using recall powers.
A source told the Independent: "You have a situation where 19 per cent, almost a fifth of people, complaining that they have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment or inappropriate sexual behaviour here, versus the fact that the present respect policy has never had a complaint about sexual harassment."
The parliament-wide survey of 1,377 workers found 39 per cent of staff, MPs and peers had experienced bullying and harassment of some sort while on the estate, the website reported.
Of those suffering bullying or harassment, 45 per cent were women and 35 per cent were male.
A spokesman for the Commons Leader's office said: "We don't comment on leaked reports."
