CAROL STREAM, Ill., Aug. 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- A national survey of 779 U.S. Christian women conducted by NationalChristianPoll.com shows more than a quarter personally experienced sexually inappropriate behavior, and one-fourth who experienced it said it happened in a church or ministry setting.

The survey, commissioned by GiftedForLeadership.com and Your Church magazine, two media ministries of Christianity Today International, was designed to capture the range and extent to which women encounter unwelcome, gender- based behaviors by male colleagues, in the workplace or within a church or ministry setting.

The most commonly reported inappropriate behaviors: sexual advances, touching or sexual contact, suggestive jokes, glances with sexual overtones, and demeaning comments.

Although respondents described these behaviors as "sexual harassment," not all incidents reported fall under the legal definition of sexual harassment. According to Frank Sommerville, nonprofit attorney and CPA, the simple legal definition of sexual harassment is "unwelcome attention due to one's gender.

Related to this is the term 'hostile work environment,' which occurs when unwelcome comments or conduct based on sex, race, or other legally protected characteristics unreasonably interfere with an employee's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment."

The survey indicates a relatively low number of occurrences of sexual harassment in churches or ministry workplaces, as legally defined under Title VII. Only two percent in these settings say their employment was contingent upon dates or sexual favors. This number goes up sharply, however, in the secular world: 22 percent of women said their employment was conditioned on submission to a sexual or social relationship.

Fifty-three percent who have experienced inappropriate behavior say they do not plan to report these instances to avoid stirring up controversy. Sommerville says churches need to recognize sexually inappropriate behavior can and does occur in churches, and policies must be established to prevent and respond to instances of misconduct.

"Juries tend to award larger damages to victims of sexual harassment within churches because they think a church should be a safe place. Churches ignore this topic at their peril," says Sommerville.

To learn more about NationalChristianPoll.com survey results and resources on preventing sexual misconduct, visit http://www.yourchurch.net and http://www.giftedforleadership.com.

Christianity Today International is a Christian media ministry founded by Billy Graham in 1956. This ministry produces 12 publications, an award-winning website with more than 30 online magazine channels and 2.5 million unique visitors per month, plus a wide array of Internet resources for people of faith.