Realtors, mostly women, alone in houses with clients, are being harassed and sometimes raped & murdered, according to a New York Times investigation. Most realtors are ‘independent contractors,’ who don't have protection from Title VII (the Civil Rights Act that protects workers from discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex and national origin) or OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
In 2021, 25 real estate professionals died from violence on the job.
The National Association of Realtors is resistant to require any sort of mandatory safety training. They prefer instead to relay on individual agents to create their own safety measures. But some real estate agents want more action: mandatory training, background checks on clients or giving female agents an option of an escort when meetings feel unsafe.
Some agents are having to resort to carrying pepper spray and even guns.
Source: Confined Space