Employers encouraged to keep a focus on Sexual Harassment, Gendered Violence and Sex Based Harassment

Many employers will notice an increase in Safety Regulators focusing their WHS campaigns on Sexual Harassment, Gendered Violence and Sex Based Harassment this year following on from the Jenkins Report, the Federal Government’s commitment to implement all recommendations and a clearer recognition that all such issues are serious hazards that can cause physical and psychological harm in the workplace.

Whilst usually not as overt as what some workplaces would understand as Sexual Harassment, the definitional differences make them a critical part of any workplaces WHS strategy.  Examples of Gendered Violence, Sex Based Harassment and Sexual Harassment could include:

• A caller uses offensive sexual language with a female call centre operator.

• An employer questions or makes negative comments about an employee’s sexual orientation or the way they look.

• Pornographic posters on the wall in a warehouse make the female driver feel uncomfortable whenever she has to pick up a delivery.

• People make disparaging jokes about gay relationships in the staffroom, making a gay colleague at a neighbouring table feel threatened and excluded.

• A pub owner tells the female employees they have to wear short skirts to look sexy for the patrons.

• An employee receives unwanted sexually explicit texts from another employee after hours.

• A transgender woman overhears co-workers complaining about her using the women’s toilets.

Because of the nature of these matters, many incidents go unreported. It is therefore important that employers don’t simply rely on reported figures, but instead proactively train their workplaces and have real conversations with your staff about what IS and what is NOT appropriate workplace behaviour (take the ‘guess work’ out of it).

WorkSafe Victoria has released a helpful guide to preventing these hazards that could be used in such training.

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