Section 3: Understanding sexual harassment in the workplace 3.1 Overview Throughout this Inquiry, the Commission has heard that to effectively address workplace sexual harassment we need to understand the nature, extent, drivers and impacts of this problem in Australian workplaces. While the Commission’s national surveys and data from other government agencies provide an important starting point, more information is required to understand workplace sexual harassment (see Section 3.2). Understanding workplace sexual harassment requires building a comprehensive and consistent evidence base about: • the nature of sexual harassment experienced by victims, including the types of behaviours and when, where and how it occurs (Section 3.3) • cultural and systemic drivers that underlie these behaviours (Section 3.4) • demographic profile of victims of these behaviours, including particular risk factors which mean that some individuals are more likely to experience sexual harassment (Section 3.5) • behaviour and characteristics of harassers (Section 3.6) 94 • the range of workplace settings where these behaviours are most likely to occur and whether some workplace characteristics and practices are more likely to increase the risk of sexual harassment and (Section 3.7) • the wide-reaching impacts that sexual harassment has on the individuals who experience it, on workplaces and the broader costs to the Australian economy (Section 3.8). Further data and research on these factors are necessary to inform the development of targeted policies to prevent workplace sexual harassment and support victims who experience it. This section aims to: • examine the data currently available • identify gaps in the evidence base • make recommendations to address this gap. 3.2 Prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace Data collection and analysis—both by employers and regulatory bodies [helps] to provide a clearer picture of what is happening in workplaces, and to drive and monitor change over time. It is only if we can truly see the problems that we will be able to address them effectively.2