Male-on-male sexual harassment climbs
One in four male victims of workplace sexual harassment were harassed by other men but Australia鈥檚 Sex Discrimination Commissioner says gay men may not be to blame.
New research from the Australian Human Rights Commission has found about one third of sexual harassment is from the same sex.
Male-to-male sexual harassment in the workplace has climbed over the past decade from just seven percent of all cases in 2003 to almost a quarter (23 percent) this year.
The majority of same sex harrasment cases were between men over the past five years, accounting for four out of five cases.
The Australian Human Rights Commission released its 鈥榃orking without fear: results of the sexual harassment national telephone survey 2012鈥� report on Tuesday.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick told the Star Observer more research was needed to understand the statistics better.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 necessarily about gay men at all,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e need more research to understand the nature of same-sex sexual harassment; is it the same as heterosexual [harassment] or is it something about homophobia, transphobia, we just don鈥檛 know.鈥�
One explanation for the high rates of male-to-male sexual harassment was men being bullied who didn鈥檛 conform to the prevailing 鈥榤acho鈥� culture in male-dominated industries.
Skilled tradesmen were the most likely to experience same-sex harassment at work (17 percent) than men in any other industry, the report found.
鈥淔or example in the construction industry, it might be the man who likes reading rather than sport or whatever that prevailing 鈥榤acho鈥� culture is,鈥� Broderick said.
Workplace discrimination is one of the key targets for the recently launched No To Homophobia campaign.
No To Homophobia spokeswoman Anna Brown welcomed the research and said homophobia most likely played a part.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too soon to say if the high instance of male to male sexual harassment is homophobic or not,鈥� she said.
鈥淥ne would assume that at least a proportion of these instances of male-to-male sexual harassment would be driven by homophobia.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt that there鈥檚 more work to do to ensure that workplaces are free from sexual harassment including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic harassment.鈥�
Brown said sexual harassment victims needed to know where to find support and bystanders needed to find out how they can help when they see colleagues being sexually harassed.
The report found 51 percent of bystanders did something to help or prevent it from happening.
Broderick said workplaces needed to address the issue better in future.
鈥淲hen I speak to employers, policies have to account for same sex sexual harassment, I think that鈥檚 really important,鈥� she said.
Broderick said she would be pushing to have further questions about same-sex harassment included in the next four-year study to get a better understanding of the issue.
