Issue No 35 | 15 October 1999 | |
NewsTales from the Gender BattlefieldBy Naomi Steer
A female worker was asked to wear skimpy clothes and red lip-stick because the boss said it "looked sexy", confirming sexual harassment is alive and well in the Australian workplace.
The anecdote, which resulted in a complaint to Federal Sex Commissioner Susan Halliday was one of the battle stories recounted at this week's Annual Women in Trade Unions Dinner. Ms Halliday gave a number of examples of recent complaints to the commission, including: � a pregnant woman being asked by her supervisor when she intended to stop working and being told "it doesn't look very nice with you doing table service while you are pregnant" � a boss who insisted that his female employees wear tight trousers, skimpy clothing, red lipstick and nail polish" because it looked sexy." � repeated and numerous examples of male supervisors and male coworkers harassing women by sexual innuendo, crude sex references and unwelcome touching and sexual propositions. While Halliday pointed out that men also face discrimination and harassment in the workplace, over 85 per cent of complaints lodged under the Act are made by women, the majority of which involve sexual harassment. She urged the 150 women attending the dinner to encourage their unions to pursue more complaints through the Sex Discrimination Commission as a practical alternative to the industrial commissions. And she urged better training for delegates to deal with discrimination matters in the workplace.
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