A new survey by one of the advertising industry's largest trade groups has found that half of women in the profession have been sexually harassed in the workplace at least once during their careers.

The survey by 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies) comes after a number of high-profile incidents in which male advertising executives have either been accused of sexual harassment or have denied that it is a problem.

4A's CEO Nancy Hill has been vocal in trying to call attention to the issue. In a statement on the association's website, she pointed to the recent forced resignation of Kevin Roberts from his leadership role at the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi after he publicly stated there was no gender problem in the industry. He also accused a female consultant complaining about sexual harassment in advertising of "making up a lot of the stuff to create a profile, and to take applause, and to get on a soap[box]."

"Last week, we were once again reminded that, despite strong momentum and frequent discussions about gender equality in advertising, there is much more work to be done," Hill said. "Work that someday soon, hopefully, would mean a senior executive in a position of power wouldn't think of publicly refuting, and frankly ridiculing, what many of us hold to be true: The ad industry is not an equal workplace for men and women."

The survey found that 33 percent of female respondents said they had been passed over for important projects or promotions because of their gender. Some 42 percent said there were times they were not included in important decision making because of discrimination.

Half of respondents said they have been harassed at least once. In addition, more than half said their gender either makes them either somewhat vulnerable or highly vulnerable for discrimination. 4A's did not say how many people participated in the survey.

"What is hard to believe is that, despite these famous statistics, we hear a comment so out of touch with reality that it confirms what many of us fear: There are industry leaders out there who brush off gender and diversity issues; too many C-suite execs believe this issue is an isolated problem, one that doesn't exist in ‘my house' or, remarkably, one that doesn't exist at all," Hill said.

Hill announced earlier this year she would resign from 4A's in June 2017 after having led the organization for nine years. She said she plans to spend time in Ecuador teaching and doing volunteer work. http://bit.ly/2bndgwE

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