Condoning Gendered Violence as a Driver of Workplace Sexual Harassment

Everything you need to know about condoning gendered violence and how it drives workplace sexual harassment

Gendered violence is an umbrella term referring to physical and non-physical violence that affects a person because of their gender, or disproportionately affects people of a particular gender. This violence can be physical, but it can also be sexual, mental, psychological, and/or economic.

Change the story: A shared framework for the primary prevention of violence against women in Australia highlights four key expressions of gender inequality which consistently predict higher rates of gendered violence:

• Condoning of gendered violence;
• Men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence;
• Rigid gender stereotyping; and
• Cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.

In this blog series, we’re exploring the ways in which these gendered drivers of violence manifest in workplaces, predicting higher rates of sexual harassment – a common form of gendered violence which most often impacts women and gender-diverse people. In this article we’ll be looking at how the condoning of gendered violence drives workplace sexual harassment.

What is it?

Condoning of violence happens when violence is excused, downplayed, justified or denied, or when blame is placed on the person targeted by violence rather than on the perpetrator.

Beliefs, attitudes and norms about gender, as well as race, class, disability, and sexuality, shape the way we condone violence at an individual, organisational and societal level.

Men’s use of violence is often excused or justified, while women and gender-diverse people’s experiences of violence can be trivialised or dismissed. Even worse, people who’ve been targeted by gendered violence are also often blamed, with factors raised like their sexual history or clothing choices.

There are a range of different settings in which this condoning occurs, including in the media, at home, at school, and in workplaces. It is so normalised that we often don’t even notice it.

What can it look like?

In workplaces, a colleague, manager or HR representative might condone gendered violence by:

• Asking what a worker targeted by sexual harassment was wearing when it occurred to imply that harassment was being invited.
• Saying that harassment that does not involve physical touching or repetitive acts is comparatively ‘not that bad’, or that it ‘could have been worse’, ignoring the often-traumatising impact of unwanted sexual behaviour.
• Highlighting the positive traits of a harasser, or making excuses for their behaviour, by focusing on their romanticism, stress levels, or alcohol consumption.
• Suggesting that unwanted sexual behaviour should be considered flattering or complimentary rather than offensive and intimidating.
• Questioning the legitimacy of reported workplace sexual harassment statistics or perpetuating the myth that false reporting is common.

How can challenging this driver prevent sexual harassment?

Simply put, when we condone gendered violence, rates of gendered violence remain high.

Further, people who believe sexual harassment myths are almost 5 times more likely to sexually harass someone than people who don’t.

Addressing the gendered drivers of violence can help to prevent workplace sexual harassment and other forms of gendered violence. Change the story highlights that challenging condoning of violence against women is one of five essential actions which work to prevent gendered violence.

What can I do?

Workplace sexual harassment is most often condoned in workplaces that are not safe or diverse and where culture is poor, so workers may feel like they’re unable to challenge it.

It’s important that drivers of gendered violence are challenged on multiple levels, for example through legislation, policy, communities, and institutions, as well as at an individual level.

There are a number of ways workers can safely challenge the condoning of violence at work to create positive change. Some examples include:

 • Learning how to be an active bystander so you can interrupt inappropriate comments and other behaviours.

 • Raising awareness by printing and displaying Safe and Equal’s informational tip sheet at your desk or on your workplace’s noticeboard.

• Making a social media post sharing prevalence statistics or impact stories – there are lots of great sources of information on Respect@Work to use as your starting point.

For more information on workplace sexual harassment, visit our Workplace Respect Project resource hub. Our gendered drivers of violence blogs will be released on a monthly basis – keep up to date with new posts here.