Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination and involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours or unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that offends, humiliates or intimidates. It has nothing to do with mutual attraction or friendship.
Sexual harassment may include the following:
: Suggestive behaviour
: Staring and/or leering
: Sexual jokes
: Sexual propositions or asking for sexual favours
: Unwanted invitations for dates
: Sexual or physical contact such as touching, slapping or kissing
: Insults or taunts based on a person’s sex
: Sexually offensive gestures
: Sexually explicit materials or emails
: Intrusive questions about one’s private life or body.
Just one of these actions may be enough to constitute sexual harassment.
Statistics show that it is usually men who sexually harass women. However, sometimes women sexually harass men, men sexually harass other men, and women sexually harass other women.
Is sexual harassment against the law?
If sexual harassment happens in one of the following places or
Circumstances it is against the law:
: Employment - when applying for, or at any time during, employment.
: Obtaining goods or services from public or private enterprises such as shops, pubs and entertainment places, banks, lawyers, government departments, doctors, hospitals.
: Renting or making application for rental accommodation - e.g., a unit or house, commercial premises, hotel room, motel room, caravan etc.
: Applying for or studying in any education institution such as a public school, college, TAFE, university etc.
: Joining, entering or being inside a registered club - including any club that sells alcohol.
If sexual harassment takes place elsewhere (e.g. within private premises or the street) seek advice from the Anti-Discrimination Commission and contact the police.
Are people protected at work?
Sexual harassment in the