Around half of young Australians had no understanding of what sexual harassment was when they embarked on their first jobs, federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody has said. or signup to continue reading Dr Cody is conducting consultations across Australia on workplace sexual harassment as part of the project for the Australian Human Rights Commission. She said the 18-year-olds interviewed said when they entered the workforce at 14, 15 or 16, they had no understanding of what constituted sexual harassment, did not understand their rights in the case of workplace sexual harassment, nor did they understand they could access free legal advice from community legal centres or legal aid.
"People don't know what sexual harassment is. That's shocking to me," she said. Dr Cody said: "[Despite] having had so much media coverage about it, people actually don't understand it .
.. don't understand the nuance of it.
" That includes remarks being explained away as a "joke ...
that's just how we do it". One in three Australians have been sexually harassed at work in the last five years. Preliminary feedback from the consultations said perpetrators often harass based on sexist, homophobic and racist stereotypes such as: "I thought all Asian women liked that.
" It was also important, said participants, not to normalise sexist behaviour and "small" comments, which may go on to become more serious. The responses reveal the important of continuing education, not only during workplace inductions. Those interviewed also said in-person training was better received, rather than more impersonal online methods; and felt human resources departments were not trained to deal with sexual harassment.
That included taking a very legal approach which was not necessarily trauma-informed, such as conducting questioning that places the burden of blame on the person who has experienced the harassment. That included being asked questions such as: "Are you sure it happened?" Dr Cody was appointed to the position in September 2023. A spokesperson for ANROWS, Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, said there must be continued investment in education which challenges harmful attitudes and assists every young person to recognise and reject all sexual harassment.
Jenna Price is a Canberra Times columnist and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University. Jenna Price is a Canberra Times columnist and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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