Jump to Share article Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to LinkedIn Email Share link via email Jump to heading Circle Green’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) reconvened with our Workplace Respect Project team in June 2023 to discuss a range of topics, including a review of the Workplace Respect Project’s progress and the development upcoming promotional materials. The Workplace Respect Project’s promotional materials, and work more broadly, continues to be guided by the valuable insight of people who have lived experience of being targeted by workplace sexual harassment. We highlighted some of our key findings from the session: The #MeToo movement created important momentum for cultural change, including greater support for creating safe workplaces “The horse has bolted when you’ve left your workplace…. you don’t necessarily want to revisit your past to pursue a legal case, given the stats around outcomes… The cultural wakeup opportunities in terms of what has come out since #MeToo… it’s shifting expectations. My experience was 7 years ago, pre-#MeToo, so I didn’t push any further and I just accepted it because I didn’t have better awareness that I could have asked for more. There wasn’t the cultural appetite.” – LEAP member The global, survivor-led #MeToo movement brought important conversations around power and sexual violence into the public sphere. In the time since the #MeToo movement, the 2018 launch of the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces, and the subsequent handing down of the landmark 2020 Respect@Work Report, LEAP members observe a significant cultural shift in Australian workplaces. While prevalence of workplace sexual harassment remains unacceptably high, and formal reporting of workplace sexual harassment low, evidence suggests that there is growing support for positive change in workplaces across Australia. The 2022 Time for Respect report revealed that almost three quarters of Australian workers believed their organisation’s leaders were committed to ensuring a safe working environment free from sexual harassment. Time limitations for workplace sexual harassment complaints do not adequately account for a lengthy recovery process post-trauma “To grow yourself back post-trauma can take more than 12 months… then to be in a position to even speak about it? Even when I left that company, the VP of HR said to me ‘if this had happened more recently, he would have been fired’. But he wasn’t, and he still worked there. This 12 or 24-month period is not enough. You need longer, particularly for those whose experiences were prior to this cultural (#MeToo) movement, because only then do workers have the empowerment of feeling like maybe they deserved better.” – LEAP member Workplace sexual harassment is a form of sexual violence. It can be an upsetting, intimidating and traumatic experience, and everyone responds to and processes experiences of workplace sexual harassment differently. Workplace sexual harassment commonly impacts a worker’s mental health, self-esteem and confidence, their physical health and wellbeing, and their ability to perform their job. Women are more likely to experience many of these negative impacts. A person who has been targeted by workplace sexual harassment can go through high levels of distress, both immediately after an incident and in the long-term. Recovery can be a lengthy journey involving experiencing and healing from ongoing symptoms of trauma, re-establishing a sense of safety, finding support networks, and feeling ready and able to express your experience. Our LEAP members express that the time limits for making workplace sexual harassment complaints to anti-discrimination and human rights bodies (at the time of writing, these time limits are 24 months with the Australian Human Rights Commission, and 12 months with the WA Equal Opportunity Commission from the time when the harassment occurred) are not reflective of the real-life, non-linear, and often lengthy recovery processes of people who have been targeted by workplace sexual harassment. Employers wrongly perceive that the impact of workplace sexual harassment ends as the HR reporting process does, and ongoing support for the workers targeted is insufficient in their recovery journey “It felt like in the workplace, once all the process had been completed, they all felt very chuffed with themselves for crossing all their T’s and dotting all their I’s… meanwhile I was really unwell. We run the risk of suggesting that that first step of speaking up or seeking help is somehow going to alleviate the whole issue and you’ll have nothing else to deal with once you’ve spoken up. In reality… for many of us, it’s a long road to recovery, and you don’t want to be selling this message that if you just take these quick and easy steps, then this thing that was very traumatic will just dissipate and you’ll be fine. Recovery is a beautiful thing, but it’s also a really difficult thing. It’s a long road. As soon as the process was complete, I went through the greatest suffering of my life, yet my workplace felt like it was done.” – LEAP member The Time for Respect report revealed that just 44% of people agreed that their organisation provides support for workers’ wellbeing both during and after a sexual harassment report or complaint. While a supportive, compassionate initial response to a report of workplace sexual harassment is important, the actions that those responders take (or don’t take) throughout a worker’s recovery process can have significant impact on their recovery journey, including their feelings of personal safety in the workplace. Recovery requires time, energy, and support. Adopting a truly trauma-informed, person-centered approach to the reporting process should include support for workers after a process has been formally finalised to prevent further stress or re-traumatisation. The Respect@Work portal offers a range of free resources for organisations to learn more about creating a safe, respectful organisational culture, building organisational leadership priorities, and importantly, applying a person-centered approach to supporting staff who have been targeted by workplace sexual harassment. Portal resources advocate for employers to offer additional safety and wellbeing support to staff both during the reporting process and afterward, scheduling follow-up check-ins with the worker targeted, and taking appropriate restorative action. The Workplace Respect Project’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel, which has been convening since November 2022, currently consists of 7 members with diverse experiences across a wide range of industries. We recruit panelists on an ongoing basis, focusing on maintaining an inclusive, representative group reflective of the workers most targeted and impacted by workplace sexual harassment. If you’re interested in enquiring about joining the panel, contact rachel.jones@circlegreen.org.au to request an application package. Disclaimer: Please be aware that this resource provides general information only. It is not legal advice. If you have a question about how the law applies to your specific situation, you can click here to request free legal assistance.
