A government study has found that nearly a third of working women who responded to a survey reported being sexually harassed on the job, such as being subjected to unwanted physical contact or degrading comments. The study ... the first of its kind, examined responses from more than 9,600 women employees, submitted by mail or online. The response rate was 18 percent. It did not give a margin of error. Of the respondents, 29 percent said they had suffered sexual harassment. The most common type of harassment was having their appearance or age become the focus of conversation, at 54 percent. The next most common was unwanted touching at 40 percent, followed by sexually related questions at 38 percent. Twenty-seven percent were asked out for meals and dates. More than 63 percent said they kept quiet, although they were reluctant to do so. The survey did not cite their reasons for staying silent. And about one in 10 who did complain, however, said they were treated unfairly for speaking up. Penalties they suffered included being demoted.