Members of the Australian Parliament were sworn in on the first day of the Commonwealth Government in Canberra in 2008. A report commissioned by the Australian government released on Tuesday, 30 November has revealed alarming levels of sexual harassment among those working for some of its highest legislatures and elected bodies.
Mark Graham / AP
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Mark Graham / AP
Members of the Australian Parliament were sworn in on the first day of the Commonwealth Government in Canberra in 2008. A report commissioned by the Australian government released on Tuesday, 30 November has revealed alarming levels of sexual harassment among those working for some of its highest legislatures and elected bodies.
Mark Graham / AP
A new report from Australia has found that one in three people working for parliamentary offices in the country has experienced sexual harassment.
Page 456 The report, commissioned by the Australian government, included interviews and surveys with more than 1,000 participants who were current and former staff members of parliament.
Titled “Set Standards”, report showed higher rates of sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault than men. There, 40% of women experienced sexual harassment compared to 26% of men. More people who identify as LGBTQ+ experience harassment than those who identify as heterosexual – 53% versus 31%.
The report also found that 63% of female MPs had experienced sexual harassment, compared with 24% of male MPs. This is much higher than the national average of 39% of women being sexually harassed.
About 1% of respondents reported being sexually assaulted, but the survey did not ask them to detail their experience.
The dynamics of playing
The report explores some of the underlying causes of a culture of sexual harassment. More than half of those who reported sexual harassment said it came from someone in a higher-ranking position than them. Of those who said they had been bullied, more than 75% said it came from someone more senior than them.
Respondents also noted that they do not believe that reporting incidents of harassment and abuse will lead to any change, and most believe it will negatively impact their careers and lives. their personal. Only 11% of people who have experienced sexual harassment reported.
“Some have described that the only options are tolerating the misconduct or leaving, rather than expecting that the misconduct can be resolved,” the report said.
Huge #MeToo protests in Australia this year
The report detailing the level of sexual misconduct culture in Australia’s parliament comes just months after thousands protested in March in another wave of the #MeToo movement.
The protests were partly sparked by Brittany Higgins, a former congressional staffer who revealed she was raped in the minister’s office in 2019. Then, Four more The women came to say that the man himself raped them.
At the same time, the fact that Australian Justice Minister Christian Porter has accused raped a 16 year old girl when he was a teenager. The victim died by suicide last year. Porter denied the allegation.
“This is not a political issue. This is a human issue,” Higgins said at a rally in March. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve all learned how pervasive gender-based violence is in this country. It’s time for our leaders on both political fronts to stop shiing away from accountability first. the public and step aside. It’s about time we really tackled the problem.”
