Source : Perth Now news
Sexual harassment rates are three times lower when employees feel respected, valued and supported at work.
Despite sexual harassment being illegal in workplaces for more than four decades, almost one in five workers experience it, Diversity Council Australia has found.
The council’s Power of Inclusion report released on Wednesday sets out a blueprint for preventing sexual harassment by providing inclusive workplaces.
Using its biennial survey of 3000 workers, it found workers within inclusive teams were three times less likely to have experienced sexual harassment in the past 12 months.
An inclusive team allows workers to feel respected and valued for their contributions, and connected to their team so they can contribute and progress at work, the report said.
“We’ve heard anecdotally that there is this link between inclusion and sexual harassment but we haven’t seen it quantified before, and that was the big piece for us to explore,” head of research Rose D’Almada-Remedios told AAP.
Forty-five per cent of workers in non-inclusive teams said they had experienced sexual harassment at work, compared to 25 per cent in inclusive teams.
Workers with inclusive managers were more than two times less likely to experience sexual harassment.
The report found workplaces at a higher risk of sexual harassment were those where most workers, supervisors or managers were men; the workforce lacked diversity; disrespectful behaviour was accepted; and there was no policy on expected standards of behaviour.
Exclusion led to higher rates of harassment, with employees who experienced discrimination six times more likely to also experience sexual harassment.
Being stereotyped for age, gender, race, culture, religion, disability and sexual orientation was also strongly connected to an increased risk of harassment.
Workers who had been incorrectly stereotyped were more than five times more likely to experience sexual harassment.
“This really shows us just how critical inclusion is as part of workplace health and safety, and it contributes to preventing psychosocial harm and supporting the wellbeing of all workers,” Dr D’Almada-Remedios said.
“Organisations really need to turn their attention towards inclusion as a key prevention piece against sexual harassment.
“Inclusion doesn’t happen by accident, it takes deliberate steps by organisations.”
Organisations should be measuring what inclusion looks like in their workplace and trying to find gaps, and providing diversity and inclusion training to staff at all levels, she said.
“Everyone plays a role in creating an inclusive environment, an inclusive team, and it starts at the top from senior leadership genuinely demonstrating that inclusion is important,” she said.
The council’s recently appointed chief executive, Catherine Fitzpatrick, said the current approach from workplaces was not enough given the persistence of sexual harassment.
“Organisations have a powerful opportunity to embed inclusion into their workplace health and safety frameworks and take proactive action before harm occurs,” she said.
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