Section 1: Introduction
• intimidating or threatening
behaviours such as inappropriate
staring or leering, sexual
gestures, indecent exposure,
or being followed, watched or
someone loitering nearby
• inappropriate physical contact,
such as unwelcome touching,
hugging, cornering or kissing,
or actual or attempted rape or
sexual assault
• sexual harassment involving
the use of technology, including
sexually explicit emails, SMS or
social media, indecent phone
calls, repeated or inappropriate
advances online, or sharing or
threatening to share intimate
images or film without consent.
The two most commonly reported types
of behaviour were sexually suggestive
comments or jokes and intrusive
questions about private life or physical
appearance.7
Many workers told the Commission
about being subject to sexually harassing
‘jokes’, where the harasser later claimed
to be surprised when their attempts at
humour were met with offence or insult.8
Several victims told the Commission
about experiencing workplace sexual
harassment which began in verbal
exchanges and ended in rape or sexual
assault.9
The Commission also heard that
technology was often used to perpetrate
sexual harassment.10
18
The frequency, duration and location of
workplace sexual harassment also tells a
story. In the 2018 National Survey, when
people who said they had been sexually
harassed in the workplace in the last five
years were asked about the most recent
incident they experienced:
• 49% said the same type of
harassment had happened to
them previously at the same
workplace11
• 45% of those who said they
experienced the same type of
sexual harassment previously,
said it had been ongoing for
12 months or longer12
• 52% said they were sexually
harassed at their workstation
or where they worked.13
Cultural and systemic drivers
Through the Inquiry, the Commission
heard about the way in which power
disparities in society, as well as in the
workplace, enabled sexual harassment.
Overwhelmingly, the Commission heard
that gender inequality was the key power
disparity that drives sexual harassment.14
Gender inequality relates to the unequal
distribution of power, resources and
opportunity between men and women in
society, due to prevailing societal norms
and structures.15
The Commission also heard that while
gender inequality is an underlying
condition for sexual harassment to occur,
it is not the only factor that drives it.