Extensive academic research,[i] legislative committees,[ii] and media investigations[iii] have exposed the endemic exploitation endured by temporary migrants in Australia. Several studies have been aimed at measuring the extent of wage theft experienced by workers on visas,[iv] but other forms of exploitation are still under-explored. Sexual harassment is a prevalent issue among migrant workers,[v] and despite sexual harassment being a priority on the National Research Agenda,[vi] there is limited data documenting the experiences of migrant women on temporary visas.[vii] Migrant women on temporary visas represent a significant share of the workforce in industries characterised by high rates of wage theft and precarious employment, and they are especially vulnerable to sexual harassment although they are usually reluctant to report.
Unions NSW’s research aims to expose the prevalence of workplace sexual harassment among women on temporary visas and provide evidence for developing effective strategies to address their needs. The study collected quantitative data alongside a qualitative component, allowing migrant women to share their experiences and the impact of sexual harassment in their own words. It is based on an analysis of over 3,000 survey responses and more than 80 interviews.
The study found that 51% of respondents had experienced workplace sexual harassment. The highest rate was reported in the construction industry, where more than four in five (82%) reported experiencing workplace sexual harassment, followed by 53% in the horticulture industry, 51% in hospitality, 50% in retail, and 42% in cleaning.
The study exposed that women on temporary visas do not think their employers are doing enough to protect them from sexual harassment. A significant number of workers across different industries quit their jobs after experiencing sexual harassment because they felt in danger and thought their employer was not doing enough to ensure they were safe at work.
An overwhelming majority of survey respondents did not report sexual harassment. Prevalent factors preventing reporting were fear of a negative impact on visa status, and employer retaliation. Almost seven in ten (67%) workers who experienced sexual harassment in the cleaning industry indicated concerns related to their migration status, followed by 64% in the construction industry, 60% in retail, 58% in horticulture, and 51% in hospitality.
Employer retaliation while experiencing sexual harassment was not uncommon. A significant number of migrant women across the analysed industries faced additional workplace issues when they attempted to defend themselves, rejected inappropriate behaviour, or reported the harasser. These repercussions included being fired, forced into resigning, having their shifts reduced, underpayment and bullying, among others.
The study underscores the need to implement policy changes that target intersecting issues experienced by migrant women in Australia. Migrant women on temporary visas are forced to endure sexual harassment in silence due to numerous factors, including uncertainty regarding their immigration status,[viii] precarious work,[ix] and racial and gender workplace discrimination.[x]The research also underscores the need to allocate more resources to developing services to provide advice, education, and training to empower migrant women to report sexual harassment.
[i] Farbenblum, Bassina and Berg, Laurie, Wage Theft in Silence: Why Migrant Workers Do Not Recover Their Unpaid Wages in Australia October 1, 2018). UNSW Law Research Paper No. 19.
[ii] Report of the Migrant Workers’ Task Force (Report. March 2019) https://www.ag.gov. a u/s i t es/d ef au lt/f i I es/2020 – 03/mw t _ final_ report.pdf pag 122
[iii] ABC, “Slaving Away: The Dirty Secrets behind Australia’s Fresh Food”https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-05/slaving-away-promo/6437876
[iv] Grattan Institute, Brendan Coates, Trent Wiltshire, Tyler Reysenbach, Short changed: How to stop the exploitation of migrant workers in Australia 2023
[v] Howe, Joanna; Shi, Elizabeth; Clibborn, Stephen — “Fruit Picking in Fear: An Examination of Sexual Harassment on Australian Farms” 18; (2022) 45(3) Melbourne University Law Review 1140
[vi] Australian Human Rights Commission. (2022). Time for respect: Fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. ARHC. https://humanrights. gov.au/time-for-respect-2022
[vii] ANROWS, Segrave, Migrant-and-refugee-women-in-Australia. A study of sexual harassment in the workplace
[viii] Unions NSW and others, Not just numbers, A Blueprint of Visa Protections for Temporary Migrant Workers (on publication on 30 July 2023). Available at https://www.unionsnsw.org.au/publication/not-just-numbers/
[ix] I Campbell, J Burgess, Patchy progress? Two decades of research on precariousness and precarious work in Australia, Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 2018.
[x] Unions NSW and Migrant Workers Centre (Vic), Unlocking talent report, Empowering Migrant Workers with Equal Work Opportunities (on publication on 30 June 2023)
Key Findings
- 51% of respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment at work.
- Sexual harassment was commonly reported in the construction, hospitality, horticulture, retail, and cleaning industries.
- 82% of respondents who worked in the construction industry experienced sexual harassment.
- 53% who worked in the horticulture industry experienced sexual harassment.
- 51% who worked in the hospitality industry experienced sexual harassment.
- 50% who worked the retail industry experienced sexual harassment.
- 42% who worked in the cleaning industry experienced sexual harassment.
Workplaces with the highest frequency of sexual harassment by industry:
- 53% of sexually harassed workers in the horticulture industry indicated that the harasser was a coworker.
- 34% of sexually harassed workers in the construction industry indicated that the harasser was a coworker.
- 37% of sexually harassed workers in the retail industry indicated that the harasser was a customer or client.
- 30% of sexually harassed workers in the hospitality industry indicated that the harasser was a customer or client.
- 26% of sexually harassed workers in the cleaning industry indicated that the harasser was a customer or client.
Participants experienced a range of repercussions when they tried to defend themselves, rejected the behaviour or reported the harasser’s conduct. Participants disclosed the following repercussions for reporting misconduct:
- Shifts were reduced.
- Were forced to quit their job.
- Were fired.
- Were bullied.
- Were underpaid.
- Lost an opportunity to be promoted at work.
- Were moved to a different role or location.
Of the migrant women who experienced additional issues after being sexually harassed, 48% working in the construction and horticulture industries decided to leave their job because they felt unsafe, followed by 42% in the cleaning industry, 41% in hospitality and 33% in retail.
The most common types of sexual harassment experienced by migrant women at work were:
- Sexually suggestive comments or jokes (52%).
- Intrusive questions about private life or physical appearance (42%).
- Repeated or inappropriate invitations to go out on dates (28%).
- Unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering, kissing or other forms of invasion of personal space (23%).
- Inappropriate staring or leering that made a person feel intimidated (24%).
- Inappropriate physical contact (20%).
Visa status exacerbates vulnerabilities
A significant number of migrant women who experienced sexual harassment disclosed concerns related to their visa status if sexual harassment was reported. Prevalence by industry was as follows:
- 67% of respondents in the cleaning industry.
- 64% of respondents in the construction industry.
- 60% of respondents in the retail industry.
- 58% of respondents in the horticulture industry.
- 51% of respondents in the hospitality industry.
50% of those who experienced workplace sexual harassment were concerned that reporting could result in losing their job.
75% of those who experienced sexual harassment did not report the incident.
Recommendations
- MIGRANT WORKER CENTRES SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED IN EACH STATE. State and federal governments should allocate resources to establish migrant worker centres across the country, with initiatives specifically designed to empower migrant women to report sexual harassment perpetrators and unsafe workplaces. These centres should partner with unions and union peak bodies to deliver comprehensive work health and safety programs, provide immigration and employment legal advice, and refer migrant women to relevant services to receive psychological and counselling support. Additionally, migrant worker centres should develop programs to empower migrant women to become advocates and leaders in their communities, leading the design of initiatives to prevent workplace sexual harassment.
- EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF MIGRANT COMMUNITIES AND WORKPLACES. There is a lack of comprehension of the behaviours that can amount to sexual harassment. Different cultures may show distinct perceptions or even misconceptions while discussing or reporting sexual harassment. Culturally appropriate education and training on sexual harassment and prevention programs should be developed in each state in collaboration with migrant worker community groups, unions and migrant workers centres.
- IMPLEMENT A LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND POLICIES THAT EFFECTIVELY PROTECT MIGRANT WOMEN FROM SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND OTHER INTERSECTING ISSUES. The introduction of a “positive duty” for employers under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) to take proactive and meaningful action to prevent sexual harassment, although an important step to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, is insufficient to protect women on temporary visas. To effectively ensure temporary migrant women are safe at work, sexual harassment cannot be addressed in isolation; other forms of exploitation and inequality should be concurrently addressed. Insecure migration status, precarious working conditions, and limited access to employment opportunities intersect with sexual harassment and create barriers that prevent migrant women from reporting harassment.
- DEVELOP REPORTING PATHWAYS THAT REFLECT THE NEEDS OF MIGRANT WOMEN. Employers, government agencies, regulators, unions, community legal centres, and other support services should implement multilingual sexual harassment reporting channels, while ensuring that the individuals receiving reports possess the appropriate training to recognise and manage cultural sensitivities and maintain rigorous processes to ensure the information disclosed is stored with the required level of confidentiality.
- GOVERNMENT AGENCIES MUST INTRODUCE REFORMS TO ENSURE MIGRANT WORKERS HAVE ACCESS TO EXISTING LEGAL AVENUES FOR ADDRESSING SEXUAL HARASSMENT. The current legal framework is inaccessible to migrant workers. The Fair Work Commission, Fair Work Ombudsman, anti-discrimination and human rights bodies, and Work Health and Safety regulators should redesign their processes to provide migrant workers with services tailored to their needs. Resources should be allocated to improve access to interpreters, implement multilingual services, and hire bilingual or multilingual staff, including senior staff with extensive experience working with migrant communities and specialised knowledge in areas that intersect with sexual harassment, such as workplace law, modern slavery, workers compensation and immigration law, among others.
- DEVELOP INITIATIVES TO FACILITATE MIGRANT WOMEN’S ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. Fund programs to assist migrant women in accessing employment opportunities. These programs should offer additional education and practical training to address identified skills gaps and improve capability in building local networks to enhance employability. Fear of losing employment is a persistent barrier to reporting sexual harassment and improving access to employment opportunities is an effective measure in empowering migrant women to report sexual harassment.
- VISA PROTECTIONS. Provide temporary migrant women with visa protections to ensure they can report sexual harassment without fear of visa cancellations or other negative impacts to their immigration status. The Workplace Justice Visa and Strengthening Reporting Protections Pilots should be regularly assessed to ensure they effectively assist in reducing the power imbalance that currently exists between migrant women and perpetrators, which prevents sexual harassment reporting.
- THE SPECIFIED WORK REQUIREMENT FOR WORKING HOLIDAY MAKERS SHOULD BE REMOVED. The requirement for working holiday makers to undertake ‘specified work’ in regional areas to be eligible for a second- or third-year visa exacerbates the vulnerabilities associated with their temporary visa status and exposes migrant women to sexual harassment and other workplace health and safety risks.
- REMOVE THE STUDENT VISA WORKING HOURS CAP. The purpose of the working hours cap on student visas is to ensure international students are genuinely studying while in Australia. However, the intent of the restriction is not being achieved. Instead, the restriction is often used by employers as a means of threatening migrant women with visa cancellation if they report perpetrators. The student visa working hours cap should be abolished to empower migrant women to report sexual harassment.