Young women, migrants particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment at work in Canberra: Women's Legal Centre

In all the sexual harassment cases brought to the Women's Legal Centre, there is a huge power imbalance between victim-survivor and perpetrator, head of the Employment and Discrimination division Bethany Hender said.

"Most often, it's young women, in their first job or one of their first jobs in really insecure work," Ms Hender said.

"So usually, it's a small business and they're working for the owner or supervised by the owner, there's no one else to report to, there's no one else around.

"[Or] they might be on a temporary visa, or they felt really lucky to get this job in this industry, and so they don't want to mess it up."

Because of Canberra's size, victim-survivor's often feel that they will jeopardise their careers by speaking out, she said.

The centre provides free legal assistance to women in low-paid or precarious employment in Canberra, and saw an 186 per cent uptick in the need for services relating to sexual harassment in the 2020-21 financial year.

With a team of two, and a flexible income threshold of who they can help (about $52,000), the overall numbers of clients are still small.

Of 20 sexual harassment complaints received by the ACT Human Rights Commission in 2020-21, about 60 per cent related to employment - all of them referring to behaviour by employees or co-workers.

The complaints cross a range of businesses, but complaints about government and large business are a smaller proportion "given they generally have better developed complaint management process in the first instance", Discrimination Commissioner Karen Toohey said.

The complaints don't include those of federal government employees, who are directed to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

One Women's Legal Centre client who experienced ongoing harassment at work said what she was subjected to had ruined her career aspirations, leaving her adrift.

"I have no direction in my career ... the career that I wanted has been ruined by my experiences at this one place," she said in a statement to the Women's Legal Centre, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

She was targeted at work by people significantly older than her, she said: "they knew that because I was so young and new to the industry that I would be quite an easy target".

"And because of the way I look, even though I was dressed, covered head to toe, [in] clothes [that] weren't form fitting, they would still manage to sexualise anything I did or said," she said.

ANU Women's Officer Avan Daruwalla said, in her two-year tenure, she had heard consistent reports about sexual harassment from students working casual jobs.

"Students in hospitality and retail, but particularly hospitality, [have said] that there is often cultures of rape apology and just general discourse that leaves people feeling very uncomfortable," she said.

"But they don't feel like they're in a position to challenge it, especially given that they're usually in the most junior roles in their workplaces."

For international students, she thought the situation was particularly dire.

"I think because a lot of international students obviously have very tenuous working agreements, and are even more likely to be working in exploitative environments, and to be paid in cash and to be really relying on a relationship with a manager in order to get their hours."

A different Women's Legal Centre client said that as a migrant in Australia, accessing the resources she needed had been particularly difficult.

She described sustained harassment from a mentor at work.

"Before I started work, I would be in my car and think about every possible situation that could happen at work where I would need to come up with excuse, I would come up with escape route, I would think about what I would tell him if he wanted to see me alone," she said in a statement to the Women's Legal Centre.

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Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt said in a statement it was "distressing to learn of the level of increase in the need for support services".

"Small business owners know, now more than ever, that ensuring workplaces are both physically and mentally safe is critical as an employer," Mr Catt said.

"Members of the chamber and other business and industry groups can access support and advice, to help them not only ensure they comply with all their legal obligations but understand what best practice looks like when it comes to managing a team."

He said it was important that everyone in workplaces take action if they become aware of harassment or bullying.

"We can say to a team that certain behaviour is not to be tolerated, but we have to back this up by making sure that they know exactly what to do and what steps to take if they become aware of it and ensure that they feel safe to do so."

Both Women's Legal Centre clients who provided statements said they made complaints to management that went unheeded. Both had left their jobs by the time they sought legal advice, a detail Ms Hender says is common.

"I am not alone," one client said she realised after seeking legal advice.

"There are other women, older and younger, Australian and not Australian, other women have gone through this, same experience. You are not alone here, we believe you. If you want to take it further, we are here to help you."

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