“Time for respect: Fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces” was released by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins last week, giving us a clear message that rates of sexual harassment in our workplaces remain unacceptably high.
The Report shows that one in three people experienced workplace sexual harassment in the past five years, a figure that has remained stable when compared to the last survey results from 2018.
Importantly, building on the work done in previous surveys, the most recent Report details not only the direct experiences of those affected by workplace sexual harassment, but gives an insight into the way in which their workplaces responded.
Concerningly, and yet consistent with what we often see in our workplace culture reviews, the Time for Respect Report shows that only 18% of those who experienced sexual harassment in the reporting period made a formal complaint about this behaviour. The Report sets out many of the reasons why people do not report sexual harassment, including:
- self-censorship (42% thought the incident was not serious enough);
- concern about the difficulties a complaint may present (38% thought it was easier to keep quiet);
- worry about responses from others in the workplace (31% thought people would think they were over-reacting); and
- a lack of confidence in the process or outcome (28% thought complaining would not change things or that nothing would be done).
The message is clear. Firstly, just because your organisation’s complaint figures do not reveal concerns about sexual harassment, this does not mean your workplace is free from sexual harassment.
Secondly, if you want to ensure sexual harassment is not occurring in your workplace, you need an environment in which people know what sexual harassment looks like and have a shared understanding that it is unequivocally unacceptable.
Thirdly, people who experience sexual harassment must feel supported, and free to speak up about their experiences; not be penalised directly, or indirectly for doing so.
Finally, you need a system that ensures that when they do speak up, people can be confident that they will be heard and appropriate action taken to prevent sexual harassment in the future. That this system also needs to be fair, transparent and accessible is a given.
While the Report notes that leadership is taking the need for employees to operate in a safe environment, free from sexual harassment increasingly seriously, the new laws passed by the Federal Parliament in past weeks should ensure that any leaders who have not yet realised the importance of taking action may soon receive a clear wake up call.
Eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace depends on action, leadership and culture.
If you would like to build your organisation’s capability in investigating sexual harassment complaints, we offer public courses on how to conduct effective workplace investigations. See our current training calendar for upcoming in person and online workshop dates.
