Sexual harassment at work is on the rise in Australia, the Human Rights Commission says

Updated

Seana Szetey had been in her IT job for more than a year and had settled into the role when the man who hired her sidled over one day to set her straight.

"He told me he had only hired me because I was attractive and he was attracted to me," she recalls.

It wasn't the first time Ms Szetey had experienced sexual harassment at work, and it wouldn't be the last.

Key points Sexual harassment at work is on the rise

Young Australians are far more like to be targeted

Research breaks down prevalence by industry

Human Rights Commission calls for action

There were the co-workers who would send her private messages on the internal office service. And the security guard who created multiple Facebook accounts to send her messages demanding a date.

Sadly, Ms Szetey's experience is far from isolated.

Sexual harassment at work is on the rise in Australia, according to sobering new research that finds one in three people have been targeted in the past five years.

Yet the new figures also show only a fraction of victims report it for fear they won't be believed or that it's easier to stay quiet.

The research — released in Canberra on Wednesday by the Human Rights Commission — is the fourth study of its kind and the first since 2012.

It found 71 per cent of Australians had been sexually harassed at some point in their lives, with women (85 per cent) far more likely to experience it than men (56 per cent).

In the workplace, the reported prevalence of harassment jumped from 21 per cent in 2012 to 33 per cent now.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins presented the report at the National Press Club and used it as a rallying tool for action.

"The results of the survey are perhaps more timely and relevant in 2018 than ever before, with the huge surge in public concern about sexual harassment generated by the #MeToo movement around the world, including in Australia," Ms Jenkins writes in the report's foreword.

The Commission's report is titled Everyone's Business and outlines the three most common forms of sexual harassment at work:

Offensive, sexually suggestive comments or jokes;

Inappropriate physical contact; and,

Unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing.

It also broke down instances by industry, with those working in information, media and telecommunications reporting drastically higher rates of harassment compared to the national average.

Ms Szetey said in her experience the IT industry suffered from "ingrained" issues.

"In IT I found it really bad just because I was one of the only women working in the team," she said.

"So I think that kind of made me a target for that sort of behaviour."

Ms Szetey said when she did speak up she was made to feel like it was her fault or a problem she had to deal with, rather than the perpetrator.

"So I think that there's a lot of defensiveness around behaviour, like it's just something you're meant to accept and not make a fuss about," she said.

"But I think a lot more women are coming forward and being open about it and that's helping other women to open."

Greater awareness of the issue

Ms Jenkins said there appeared to be greater awareness among the 10,000 people surveyed of what constituted sexual harassment, which could help explain the rise in prevalence.

"But the way we do the survey, it also asks about particular behaviours … and does seem to tell us also that there might be an increase in prevalence in the actual experience," she said.

The research found women (39 per cent) were more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment than men (26 per cent), but across all instances men were far more likely to be perpetrators.

It also found the rate was higher for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders, those with a disability and young Australians.

"It showed that 45 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 had experienced sexual harassment," Ms Jenkins said.

"In fact, of people who are just starting out in work, 15 to 17-year-olds, one in five of them had experienced sexual harassment.

"It is primarily a young person's problem, that sort of makes sense in terms of who has the power in workplaces."

Harassment goes unpunished

The Commission's research paints a bleak picture for reporting and intervention when it comes to sexual harassment at work.

It found only 17 per cent of people made formal reports or complaints to their employers, and in 19 per cent of cases that were referred up there were no consequences for the perpetrators.

"We know from our research that many people are afraid to report their experiences of unwelcome sexual conduct out of fear that they won't be believed, that it's not worth it, that they'll be ostracised and that it could damage their career," Ms Jenkins said.

"It's also worrying that almost half of those who did make a formal report said that nothing changed at their organisation as a result of the complaint."

What's more, the report finds "a substantial proportion" (40 per cent) of incidents were witnessed by a co-worker, yet the witness intervened in only 27 per cent of cases.

This is a drop compared to 2012, when half of bystanders took action.

The report comes after Ms Jenkins announced in June she would begin a world-first 12-month independent national inquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, community-and-society, work, australia

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