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A Bad Business - Key Findings

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A Bad Business

(Review of sexual harassment in employment complaints 2002)

Key Findings

HREOC
has reviewed 152 complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace that
were finalised in 2002. These are the key findings from the review.

The information available in relation
to each of the 152 complaints varied. As such, it was not always possible
to determine each finding in relation to all of the complaints. For
each of the findings below, the number of complaints for which the particular
information was available is noted in brackets.

The reported harassment
was by men against women

  • 86 per cent of complaints involved a man sexually
    harassing a woman (of 152 complaints). The remaining 14 per cent
    of complaints included harassment of men and harassment by women.
  • 95 per cent of the complainants were female
    (of 152 complaints). 88 per cent of individual respondents were
    male, five per cent were female and seven per cent involved both
    male and female respondents (of 152 complaints).

The nature of the reported
harassment

  • Most complaints involved multiple forms of harassing
    behaviours. 71 per cent of complaints involved verbal harassment,
    37 per cent involved physical intimacy and 23 per cent involved
    sexual physical behaviour (of 152 complaints).
  • 18 per cent of cases involved an isolated incident
    of sexual harassment (of 136 complaints). In 22 per cent of cases
    the harassment had continued for more than 12 months.
  • 72 per cent of complainants reported that the
    harassment began in the first 12 months of the complainant’s
    employment (of 121 complaints). 51 per cent reported harassment
    as beginning within the first four months of employment.
  • 60 per cent of individual respondents were in
    a more senior position in the workplace than the complainant (of
    161 individual respondents).

Harassment is an issue
for all forms of business

  • 44 per cent of complainants were employed in
    small businesses, 19 per cent in medium sized businesses and 36
    per cent were employed in large businesses (of 135 complaints).
  • 51 per cent of complainants were employed in
    the occupational groups of clerical, hospitality, shop assistant
    and labourer (of 146 complaints).
  • 67 per cent of reported harassment occurred
    in workplaces located in cities, 31 per cent occurred in rural areas
    and three per cent was in remote rural areas (of 150 complaints).
  • 78 per cent of complainants had reported the
    harassment within their workplace (of 130 complaints).

Harassment has a cost for
employers

  • At the time the complaint was made to HREOC,
    only seven per cent of complainants were known still to be actively
    working for the organisation where the alleged harassment occurred.
    67 per cent had left the organisation and 10 per cent were on leave
    (of 152 complaints).
  • Financial compensation received by complainants
    varied from $500 to $200,000 and was most often paid by employers
    rather than the individual harasser.

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Last
updated: 12 November 2003