Our HR expert Lynne Bennington takes a look at the hot topic of workplace sexual harassment.
Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) data from 2018 suggest that sexual harassment in the workplace may be increasing, as the number of people reporting this experience has risen significantly over time. However, reported incidents of sexual harassment can increase while the actual number of cases stays steady.
For instance, the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, together with the associated media coverage, may have resulted in some people to consider behaviours to be sexual harassment when they wouldn’t have previously. They may also have encouraged more people to speak up about such behaviours.
An established theory called “Naming, Blaming, Claiming” describes how a person may go from experiencing a behaviour to making a formal report or complaint. This theory can be applied to behaviours that may or may not be considered sexual harassment.
First, the recipient of the behaviour – commonly known as the victim or survivor – decides what label (‘naming’) they think applies to the behaviour. This naming influences whether the person decides to take the issue further. For example, two very different names for ongoing sexual innuendo are ‘childish’ versus ‘harassment’. The more serious the name is, the more likely a person is to consider the issue further.
Naming is not necessarily a conscious act, and a person may not name the behaviour at all, perhaps because they don’t notice it.
Next, if the recipient has named the behaviour and are thinking about it, they will decide if an individual is responsible (‘blaming’). Reasons why the recipient may not blame a single individual include if the recipient:
If the recipient does feel there is someone to blame, they are more likely to report the behaviour.
Only if the recipient names the behaviour as sexual harassment, and blames an individual, will they consider making a formal report or complaint (‘claiming’). Claiming is not guaranteed as other factors deter the recipient, such as potential consequence. The AHRC study found those who did report sexual harassment often suffered negative experiences from being labelled a troublemaker to resigning.
If an issue like sexual harassment is covered extensively in the media, this will raise consciousness about the behaviour and may lead more people to name their experiences in this way. This in turn may lead to greater blame and claim. Unfortunately, this does not tell us if the incidence of sexual harassment has increased.
Regardless of whether the amount of sexual harassment in the workplace is increasing over time, what the AHRC report does tell us is that the current incidence is far too high. Out of the more than 10,000 people surveyed, in the last 5 years 39% of women and 26% of men had experienced workplace sexual harassment. In almost 4 out of 5 cases, the perpetrators were men.
While the proportion of people stating that they’ve experienced sexual harassment in the workplace has increased over time, the formal reporting of that behaviour has decreased. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of witnesses who take action when they see someone being sexually harassed. This suggests that organisations need to:
For assistance with issues of harassment or discrimination in the workplace contact us via our HR Resource Centre or call the Ai Group Workplace Advice Line on 1300 55 66 77.
Ai Group also offers a range of short courses about harassment, bullying and discrimination in the workplace, for both management and employees. Visit Employee Relations Professional Short Courses or call 1300 55 66 77 for further information.
