This information sheet is intended to assist persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to prevent and respond to incidents of workplace gendered violence.
Background
Exposure to psychosocial hazards, including gendered violence, poses risk of significant harm to the psychological and physical health of workers. Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WHS Act), PCBUs must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers they engage or cause to be engaged. These obligations include controlling workplace risk factors that increase the risk of workers’ exposure to psychosocial hazards, such as gendered violence.
The Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report published by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2020 identified trends in relation to the prevalence of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces; it is estimated that around one third of people reported exposure to workplace sexual harassment in the previous five years. This report identified workplace settings which lead to a higher risk of sexual harassment, including those with a male-dominated workforce or with a high level of worker contact with customers, clients or patients.
Summary of hazard
Gendered violence at work is any behaviour, directed at a person or that affects a person, because of their sex, gender or sexual orientation, or because they do not adhere to socially prescribed gender roles, that creates a risk to health and safety. Sexual harassment can be by a co-worker or manager, or by a third party such as a client, patient or the public. Types of work-related gendered violence can range in severity from sexual harassment, through to sexual assault. This information sheet is designed to provide guidance on managing the risk of exposure to sexual harassment as a workplace psychosocial hazard. Please refer to the Gendered violence: Sexual assault: Information sheet for further information on managing the risk of workplace sexual assault.
Sexual harassment includes any unwelcome or inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature, where a reasonable person, having regard to all the circumstances, would expect the person being harassed to be offended, humiliated or intimidated. Some forms of sexual harassment are also a criminal offence. It can include:
- unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing
- inappropriate staring or leering
- suggestive comments or jokes
- using suggestive or sexualised nicknames for co-workers
- sexually explicit pictures, posters or gifts
- circulating sexually explicit material
- persistent unwanted invitations to go out on dates
- requests or pressure for sex
- intrusive questions or comments about a person’s private life or body
- unnecessary familiarity, such as deliberately brushing up against a person
- insults or taunts based on sex
- sexual gestures or indecent exposure
- following, watching or loitering nearby another person
- sexually explicit or indecent emails, phone calls, text messages or online interactions
- repeated or inappropriate advances online
- threatening to share intimate images or film without consent.
Sexual harassment at work is not limited to people sharing the same workplace. It can occur at work-related events, at employer-provided accommodation and by phone, email or online (such as through social media platforms). Sexual harassment at work isn’t always obvious, repeated or continuous; it can be a one-off incident.
Sexual harassment is a workplace hazard due to the harm it can cause to the person experiencing it and to anyone witnessing the behaviour. The severity of the impact of sexual harassment can vary and potentially lead to a number of significant physical and psychological outcomes for affected persons, including:
- psychological injuries including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- physiological health affects (e.g. sleep, appetite, muscular tension)
- feelings of isolation, social isolation or family dislocation
- loss of confidence and withdrawal
- suicidal thoughts.