Chapter 1: Summary of survey findings - Sexual harassment: Serious business
Sexual harassment: Serious business
Chapter 1: Summary
of survey findings
Contents
1.1 Background
1.2 Key findings
1.3 Recommendations
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1.1 Background
The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) conducted a national
telephone survey between July and September 2008 to investigate the nature and
extent of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. Two thousand and five
telephone interviews were conducted with people aged 18 to
64.[1] The sample of survey
respondents was representative of the Australian population by age, gender and
area of residence. The survey is based on a similar national telephone survey
conducted by the Commission in 2003.
The aims of the survey were to find out:
- the prevalence of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces
- the types of sexual harassment experienced in Australian workplaces
- the nature of sexual harassment, including characteristics of those who
experience harassment, characteristics of harassers and characteristics of
workplaces where harassment occurs - how sexual harassment is reported and the outcomes of complaints
- trends in the nature and extent of sexual harassment in Australia between
2003 and 2008.
1.2 Key
findings
Sexual harassment continues to be a problem in our workplaces, despite
some improvement since
2003[2]
- The 2008 survey found that 22% of women and 5% of men aged 18-64 have
experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in their lifetime, compared to
28% of women and 7% of men in 2003. - Around one in three women in Australia aged 18-64 have experienced sexual
harassment in their lifetime. The majority of sexual harassment continues to be
experienced in the workplace (65%). - Nearly half of those who have been sexually harassed in the last five years
report that it has also happened to someone else in the same workplace. - Over one in ten Australians have witnessed sexual harassment in the
workplace in the last five years. - 4% of Australians have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the
last five years, compared to 11% in 2003.
There is a lack of understanding about what sexual harassment
is
- Around one in five (22%) respondents who said they had not experienced ‘sexual
harassment’[3] then went
on to report having experienced behaviours that may in fact amount to sexual
harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). For example:- 5% reported behaviour(s) that included physical harassment such as
unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing, inappropriate physical
contact, or actual or attempted rape or assault. - 10% reported being subject to unwelcome sexually suggestive comments
or jokes that made them feel offended. - 9% reported being subject to unwelcome intrusive questions about
their private life or physical appearance that made them feel offended.
- 5% reported behaviour(s) that included physical harassment such as
The large majority of sexual harassment goes
unreported to employers and other bodies
- The number of people who have formally reported or made a complaint after
experiencing sexual harassment has significantly decreased over the last five
years.[4] - Only 16% of those who have been sexually harassed in the last five years in
the workplace formally reported or made a complaint, compared to 32% in 2003. - For those who did not make a complaint:
- 43% did not think it was serious enough
- 15% were fearful of a negative impact on themselves
- 21% had a lack of faith in the complaint process
- 29% took care of the problem themselves.
Sexual harassment includes a range of behaviours,
both physical and non-physical
- For survey respondents who experienced sexual harassment in the last five
years:- the most common type of sexual harassment reported was unwelcome
sexually suggestive comments or jokes that made the respondent feel offended
(56%) - around one in three (31%) reported some kind of physical harassment,
including unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing, inappropriate
physical contact, or actual or attempted rape or assault - around one in five said they were subjected to sexually explicit
emails or SMS messages - women were more likely to experience physical sexual harassment,
compared to men. 35% of women reported some kind of physical harassment,
compared to 25% of men.
- the most common type of sexual harassment reported was unwelcome
Sexual harassment is a
problem for all employers – small, medium and large
- In the 2008 survey, there was an even spread of employer size among those
who had experienced sexual harassment in the last five years – 39% worked
for large employers, 30% medium employers and 31% small
employers.[5] This is a similar
finding to the 2003 survey.
1.3 Recommendations
The findings of the 2008 national telephone survey bring attention to six key
areas for action to reduce the incidence and impact of sexual harassment. These
are:
- Prevention and reporting of sexual harassment
- Increasing reporting of sexual harassment
- Better legal protection from sexual harassment
- Monitoring of sexual harassment
- Better support for victims of sexual harassment
- Further research on sexual
harassment
Area for action
|
Recommendations
|
---|---|
1. Prevention of sexual harassment
|
Pre-employment education
These could be:
|
Employer education on responsibilities and liability
|
|
Employer policies and training
|
|
Sharing knowledge of good practice in sexual harassment
prevention
|
|
2. Reporting of sexual harassment
|
Reporting of sexual harassment in the workplace
|
Complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission
|
|
3. Better legal protection from sexual harassment
|
Senate and Legal Constitutional Affairs Committee Inquiry into the
effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality.[7]
In Stage One (for immediate introduction)
In Stage Two (for introduction within three years)
|
4. Monitoring of sexual harassment
|
Monitoring sexual harassment in the workplace
|
National data collection and monitoring
|
|
5. Better support for those who experience sexual harassment
|
Support for employees in the workplace
|
Increase capacity of other support services to provide support to
victims of sexual harassment
|
|
6. Further research on sexual harassment
|
6.1 Australian researchers should undertake further research to
examine:
|
References
[1] Please see Appendix A for a
full explanation of the methodology. Individuals under 18 did not qualify for
the national telephone survey as permission from parents or guardians would be
required for their participation.
[2] The incidence of sexual
harassment reported here is based on asking respondents whether they had
personally experienced sexual harassment according to the legal definition.
These figures do not include the incidence of specific sexual harassment
behaviours.
[3] Based on being
provided the definition of sexual harassment from the Sex Discrimination Act
1984 (Cth).
[4] This includes
complaints within workplaces and to external agencies such as the state and
territory equal opportunity commissions and the Australian Human Rights
Commission.
[5] For the purposes of
this survey, large employers are defined as more than 100 employees, medium
employers are 26-100 employees and small employers are less than 25 employees.
However, it should be noted that the Australian Bureau of Statistics defines
small employers as having 1-19 employees, medium employers as having 20 –
199 employees and large employers as having over 200
employees.
[6] This was recommended
in the Commissions submission to the Senate and Legal Constitutional Affairs
Committee Inquiry into the effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act
1984 (Cth) in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality
(Recommendation 39).
[7] The full
submission can be found at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/legal/submissions/2008/20080901_SDA.html#3