It’s well known that migrants and refugees are highly vulnerable members of society. A recent study from Monash University highlights the increased likelihood that migrant and refugee women will experience sexual harassment at work.
These women often faced sexual harassment at work when they had temporary or insecure jobs, with the harassment usually perpetrated by men in positions of power, whether due to their seniority or their status as high-profile customers.
Harassment at work
The researchers asked these women why they thought the harassment happened. They said it was mainly because of their gender and how they looked, and sometimes also because of their race or religion.
Most of these women didn’t tell someone in charge about the harassment. Instead, they usually told their friends, family, or someone they worked with.
The main reason they didn’t report it was because they felt like it was their fault. They also didn’t know who to talk to, and they were worried they might lose their job if they said something.
A universal problem
Just under 70% of the migrant and refugee women who took part in the research explained that they had faced some form of sexual harassment in the past five years while in Australia.
Out of those women, about 46% experienced this kind of treatment at their workplaces. The most common types of sexual harassment reported at work were:
- Getting inappropriate phone calls or messages with a sexual tone (71%).
- Hearing sexually suggestive comments or jokes (53%).
- Dealing with personal questions about appearance or private life that made them uncomfortable (49%).
- Feeling intimidated due to prolonged staring or leering (48%).
In these cases, men were usually the ones responsible for the harassment. Interestingly, the harassment often involved more than one person targeting the same individual at work.
The research shows that just focusing on how incidents are reported won’t really change how workplaces behave or make women safer. It’s also important to understand that not having stable jobs adds to why migrant and refugee women often experience sexual harassment at work.
Realizing how closely workplace sexual harassment is linked with racial and religious discrimination needs ongoing attention. This is especially true because people often tend to think of these issues as separate problems in policies.
