A quarter of people aged 20 to 60 have experienced some sort of harassment, with the largest number tormented at work, a survey by an insurance consultancy says.

Tokyo-based IRRC Corp.'s online survey of 400 men and women in October showed that 213, or 26.6 percent, said they were under harassment, with 8 percent admitting to being harassers and 44.9 percent unsure.

"There is a high possibility that in some cases people are offending others unconsciously," an official who carried out the survey said.

The most cited type of harassment for both sexes was bullying at work, dubbed "power harassment."

Female respondents said they experienced sexual and moral harassment as well as so-called kajihara, which means to receive too little credit for housework.

As for the places where they were harassed, the majority of men cited the workplace, followed by school. Women cited the workplace followed by home. More than 70 percent of all respondents said they had been harassed by their boss.

Asked how they dealt with it, 45.1 percent said they did nothing, 16.4 percent complained directly and 10.3 percent consulted their superiors.

Some responded that they were ignored or advised to quit after complaining or spoke with their superiors about being harassed.