Hugs and dirty jokes - US people differ on acceptable behavior

NEW YORK - US citizens differ widely in their views of what constitutes sexual harassment, with age and race as well as gender throwing up the dividing lines, posing a challenge for those who police such conducts in the workplace.

The issue has been thrown into the national spotlight as a string of prominent men in US politics, entertainment and the media have been felled by allegations of sexual misconduct in recent months.

A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, released on Wednesday, asked 3,000 US adults to consider eight different scenarios and then prompted them to decide if they would personally label each to be an example of sexual harassment. The variation in responses showed a need for employers to spell out expected standards, employment experts said.