A new report from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) highlights the serious issues faced by migrant and refugee women in Australian workplaces, where sexual harassment, exploitative work conditions, and racial discrimination often intersect.
This report is the first of its kind globally to examine these overlapping problems in depth, showing the challenges these women face in staying safe and respected at work. The study draws on both quantitative and qualitative data from over 850 migrant and refugee women in Australia. Earlier research had already shown that 46% of these women experienced workplace sexual harassment in the past five years.
Frequent harassment
The findings reveal that these women frequently face sexual harassment alongside racial discrimination and exploitation, such as unequal pay and unsafe working conditions, both physically and mentally. Many women said their experiences went unrecognized because the systems in place treated these issues as separate problems rather than interconnected ones.
One participant recalled, “Eight years ago, I arrived here on a student visa. My first job was at a fast-food Mexican restaurant in Melbourne. The manager would hug you in a way that felt inappropriate, and he’d make sexual jokes and slap you on the bottom. At the time, it felt normal, but looking back, I just felt so small.”
“Feeling safe at work is a basic right, but many migrant and refugee women in Australia are denied this,” the researchers explain.
“The evidence shows that tackling sexual harassment, racism, and exploitative conditions separately isn’t enough. These issues are interconnected, and we need to address them together if we want to improve the working conditions and safety of migrant and refugee women.”
Reluctant to report
The report also found that many migrant and refugee women are hesitant to report abuse, fearing that doing so would harm their professional, financial, cultural, or social standing, with little chance of a positive outcome.
“A key finding is that structural inequalities—such as racism, visa status, and employment conditions—worsen the impact of workplace sexual harassment and other forms of abuse and exploitation,” the authors note.
“Our research, based on the stories and experiences shared by migrant and refugee women across Australia, calls for a rethinking of how we address these issues. We need to move away from isolated responses and prioritize women’s safety in a more comprehensive way.”
