About the Expect Respect campaign
In collaboration with Circle Green Community Legal, over 30 cafés across Western Australia are transforming everyday coffee cups into powerful conversation starters.
From 1 November to 10 December 2024, café goers will find thought-provoking messages on their coffee cups, designed to start conversations about the often-overlooked issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. This aligns with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The aim of the campaign is to bring awareness to the common ways that sexual harassment is minimised or justified and ultimately, encourage people to speak out against or question these common excuses, as active bystanders.
Grab a cup, start a conversation and show your support for a safer, more respectful workplace culture.
What is an active bystander?
An active bystander is a person who witnesses sexual harassment or hears about it after the incident occurs, and takes action to:
- identify,
- call out, or
- talk to others about sexual harassment.
Anyone at work can be an active bystander, including co-workers, managers, supervisors, human resource employees or harassment contact officers.
Knowing about workplace sexual harassment, and being able to identify when someone is feeling upset, can help you decide when to intervene.
40% of workplace sexual harassment incidents are witnessed by at least one person, but in most cases the person does nothing.
How can I be an active bystander?
As a bystander, your safety, and the safety of the people around you, is key to any successful intervention.
Depending on how safe you feel, you could opt to:
Disrupt
Talking a direct or indirect approach to challenging a behaviour
Relate
Checking in with the person being targeted to support them
Escalate
Talking, or supporting the person to take formal steps
You might choose one, a few, or all of these strategies – it’s up to you.