This survey will take 5 minutes to complete. There are references to witnessing sexual and gender-based harassment in the workplace. If this raises issues for you, you can contact your EAP provider or Full Stop Australia on 1800 943 539
It can be difficult to intervene when sexual or gender-based harassment happens in the workplace. Sometimes we may not recognise the behaviour or only recognise it on reflection. Many of us can be unsure what to do, how to intervene, and how we can support our colleagues.
We want to hear about your perceptions and experiences of witnessing, intervening and addressing sexual and gender-based harassment in your workplace. Your answers will contribute to union work in engaging all workers to be ethical bystanders.
Recent union-led changes to the law in NSW strengthen requirements for healthy and safe workplaces. Workers and their unions have stronger enforcement rights.
Ethical bystanders are now even more important.
The SafeWork NSW Code of Practice on Sexual and gender-based harassment says that sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome request for sexual favours or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. Gender-based harassment describes unwelcome conduct based on a person’s gender, sex or sexuality. Sexual or gender based harassment can be one off or behaviours that are repeated.
See the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice on Sexual and gender-based harassment for definitions and examples.
Ethical bystanders can:
- Say something when an incident occurs to stop the behaviour
- Talk to those who experience or witness the behaviour to make sure they are OK
- Talk with those who use sexual and gender-based harassment in the workplace about the impact and how they might change their behaviour
- Engage with Health and Safety Officers and others to reinforce safe and respectful behaviours in the workplace
- Support or initiate a complaint, or
- Anything else that will increase health and safety in the workplace