Disrespect towards women at work

Disrespect towards women at work can happen during virtual or in-person meetings, through email, or anywhere work gets done. It can look like:

interrupting, talking over or ignoring women in face-to-face and virtual meetings
assuming women, regardless of their role, will pick up the slack in tasks such as taking minutes, coffee runs, and tidying the office kitchen
implying women don’t have the leadership skills to manage difficult workplace situations
making sexist or looks-based comments about women co-workers
attempting to silence women or dismiss their viewpoints by not inviting them to meetings or leaving them off email chains.

Key facts about disrespect towards women at work

Women (85%) are more likely to report being sexually harassed at work than men (57%) (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are more often sexually harassed at work (55% compared with 39% of all women) (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018)
Women who identify as LGBTIQ are more often sexually harassed at work (52% compared with 39% of all women) (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018)
Young women (aged 18-24) are more than twice as likely than the rest of us to be sexually harassed (Personal Safety Survey, 2016)
Just 31% of women feel they are being treated equally to men at work, while 51% of men feel there is equality (University of Sydney, 2018)
In 2018, only 35% of people who witnessed workplace sexual harassment did something (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2018)
Currently, Australia’s gender pay gap is at 14%, with women earning on average $253.60 (per week) less than men (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2019).

Show your disapproval of a sexist comment by shaking your head
Support women by talking to your manager or Human Resources
Speak up when women are interrupted: ‘We didn’t hear her point; can we circle back?’

Use workplace values and policies as a basis to speak up
Let female colleagues being targeted know you’ll be a witness to their formal complaint
Pull colleagues aside to talk about what’s not OK
Form an alliance of like-minded people to support each other when doing something.

Check out Our Watch’s Workplace Equality and Respect – a program which helps organisations embed gender equality.

If you or someone you know is experiencing disrespect or harassment at work, please visit the Help and support page for support services.