A Horrifying 63 Percent Of Women In Parliament Allege They’ve Been Sexually Harassed At Work
Scott Morrison says he wishes he "found it more surprising."
The Jenkins Review into Australian Parliament workplace culture has been handed down and the findings were awfully predictable, with one in three staffers claiming they have been sexually harassed at work.
— Content Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault and harassment. —
The review was sparked by the horrific rape allegations made by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins earlier this year, allegations that are now before the courts.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins carried out the review, which was released publicly for the first time today. According to the review, more than half of all people employed in Commonwealth Parliamentary workplaces have personally experienced at least one incident of bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault or attempted sexual assault during their employment.
The statistics paint a pretty grim picture of our Parliament, where women experience sexual harassment and bullying at a significantly higher rate than men. Ten percent more women than men experienced bullying, according to the report. Additionally, 63 percent of female parliamentarians have experienced sexual harassment, compared to 24 percent of male parliamentarians. This compares to the national average for women of 39 percent, thus illustrating that the issue is more prevalent within the walls of Parliament than outside them.
A whopping 33 percent of participants (total) reported some kind of sexual harassment, which Scott Morrison called “appalling” and “disturbing”, but not surprising. “I wish I found it more surprising,” he said.
However, when you dig a little deeper into the report, it becomes increasingly apparent that this behaviour has thrived for so long because these workplaces have fostered a culture of silence. “It is a man’s world and you are reminded of it every day thanks to the looks up and down you get, to the representation in the parliamentary chambers, to the preferential treatment politicians give senior male journalists over younger females at press conferences,” one anonymous staffer wrote in a testimonial.
“I do often describe Parliament House as the most sexist place I’ve worked. I guess there is a workplace culture of drinking. There’s not a lot of accountability. The boys are lads. And that behaviour is celebrated and… they do treat women, our female staffers and female admin staff, quite differently. Young women, particularly media advisers coming in, particularly the younger women coming in, were like fresh meat and challenges,” another wrote.
Others noted that job security plays a part in the reasoning for silence.
“Staff all lose their job if their Minister loses their job and it can happen in 48 hours or less, and I think that sort of plays in the front of a lot of people’s minds, that it’s an insecure workplace, not for anything to with people’s performance… People who I had a lot of respect for, lost their jobs through no fault of their own,” a third respondent added.
It’s Even Harder For Women Of Colour
According to responses, it appears that women of colour have an even harder time speaking up, as a result of company culture.
“As a brown woman, I would never feel comfortable discussing this openly. People were terrible to Brittany Higgins, a beautiful and brave while woman who was a Lib staffer. No one would believe me,” another person said.
The report also made a number of recommendations — including gender balance targets — and called for these recommendations to be publicly reported for transparency purposes. Kate Jenkins also noted that her recommendations should “not be cherry picked for implementation” as they are complementary in nature.
“Our recommendations are focused on ensuring parliamentarians and their staff have human resources, systems, processes and advice tailored to the specific needs of their context to support their important work and help them perform at their best,” she said.
Brittany Higgins — who sparked the entire review — has responded following its release, hoping it “inspired immediate action”. “I want to thank the many brave people who shared their stories which contributed to this review. I hope all sides of politics not only commit to but implement these recommendations in full,” Higgins said.
Photo Credit: Rohan Thomson/Getty Images