Almost one in four court staff report sexual harassment at work
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Almost one in four surveyed Victorian court staff say they have been sexually harassed in their workplaces, although most didn’t report it.
Of those who said they had been sexually harassed – overwhelmingly by older and more senior men – almost 80 per cent declined to report their treatment, citing reasons including “it was easier to keep quiet”, “others would think I was overreacting”, or it “was a minor incident”.
Victorian Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Ferguson.Credit: The Age
The findings, contained within a Court Services Victoria report circulated to survey participants, reflected the “broadly gendered experience of sexual harassment”. Women comprised 82 per cent of people who had experienced sexual harassment, and men comprised 92 per cent of harassers.
The findings were described by Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Ferguson as being of “profound concern”.
“Sexual harassment is harmful, unlawful and wrong,” Ferguson wrote to survey participants on April 19.
“I reiterate that we will not put up with any form of wrongful conduct in our courts, in VCAT, or in the workforces that support them.”
Ferguson urged people to come forward if they had been sexually harassed, and vowed court leadership would work to remove barriers to people reporting, and “build trust in our systems”.
“I strongly encourage anyone who disclosed that they had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment while working with or for the courts or VCAT to consider reporting it regardless of when the experience occurred,” she said.
“We are particularly concerned about the negative effects that have been reported and want people to know that if they come forward, action will be taken, and they will be actively supported.”
The survey, conducted in August 2022, is the latest instalment in a five-year public reckoning into sexual harassment within the courts and broader legal sector in Victoria.
A 2019 survey commissioned by the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner found 36 per cent of women working in law had experienced sexual harassment.
The same report found that when women were shown the behavioural definitions of sexual harassment, the number who reported having experienced sexual harassment during their careers leapt to 61 per cent.
In 2020, Ferguson and the then attorney-general, Jill Hennessy, commissioned a review into sexual harassment within the state’s legal profession.
That review, led by former human rights commissioner Helen Szoke, made 20 recommendations including the establishment of a formal internal complaints process, and for Court Services Victoria to conduct an annual survey of court and VCAT staff about incidents of sexual harassment.
Of those who responded to the August survey, 22 per cent said they had experienced sexual harassment while working in a court.
“The most common types of sexual harassment experienced were sexual suggestive comments or ‘jokes’ and intrusive questions about private life or physical appearance,” the report found.
But the overwhelming majority of people who reported having experienced sexual harassment in Victorian courts last year refused to report their harassment, with just 22 per cent reporting through formal or informal channels. Of people who witnessed an incident, or had been told of an incident, 27 per cent reported it.
The response rate to the survey was low, with 686 – or 23 per cent of people who work in Victorian courts, Court Services Victoria and VCAT – taking part.
Ferguson said training and professional development sessions would be reviewed to ensure staff properly understood what behaviours could constitute sexual harassment.
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