Category Archives: Sexual harassment

Labor’s sexual harassment changes could clog courts with ‘unmeritorious’ claims, Law Council warns

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Costs protection bill would tilt balance in favour of accusers and move financial risk to accused, legal body says

The Law Council of Australia has warned that proposed changes removing cost barriers for applicants in sexual harassment and discrimination cases could result in “arbitrary and unintended consequences” such as clogging the courts with “unmeritorious” claims.

Before a parliamentary inquiry hearing into the bill next Wednesday, the peak legal body said in its submission it was concerned Labor’s bill too heavily tilted the balance towards those accusing sexual harassment and placed the burden of financial risk on those being accused.

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Adelaide hospital tackles ‘sexist’ and ‘humiliating’ behaviour of surgeons with eye posters

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Researchers report drop in incidents of incivility among staff at facilities with eye signs on the walls, but say further measures are needed

Researchers have found a unique way to tackle “sexist” and “humiliating” behaviour by surgeons in operating rooms across Australia.

It is “not uncommon” for surgeons to describe fellow medical staff in the operating theatre as “incompetent”, to roughly grab surgical instruments or to discredit nurses, says Rose Petrohilos, a junior doctor and intern representative for Bairnsdale Regional Health Service.

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Civil servant at MoD alleges sexual assaults by three male colleagues

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Woman came forward to Prospect trade union after feeling allegations were not sufficiently dealt with

A Ministry of Defence civil servant has told of being subjected to three separate incidents of sexual assault by male colleagues, after allegations emerged of a “hostile” and “toxic” culture at the department.

The woman came forward to Prospect, the trade union, after feeling that her allegations were not sufficiently investigated and dealt with by the Ministry of Defence.

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New law designates special counsels to prosecute sex crimes in US military

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Military sexual assaults and harassment have increased almost every year since 2006, prompting Congress to pass new legislation

Incidents of sexual harassment and assault have been on the rise across the US military for roughly the last 15 years. Now, a new law has been passed that will change how they are dealt with, putting independent lawyers in charge of decisions and sidelining commanders.

“It’s the most important reform to our military justice system since the creation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1950,” the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said in a statement.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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MPs arrested for violent or sexual offences ‘face ban from Westminster’

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Unions welcome new proposals that lower threshold for risk assessment being triggered

Trade unions have welcomed the publication of new proposals by parliamentary authorities for the exclusion of MPs who are arrested for a violent or sexual offences.

There had been mounting concern about delays to the long-awaited plans. But ministers have now also been urged to bring forward a vote on the issue as soon as the House of Commons returns in the new year after its Christmas recess.

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Scale of bullying and harassment of women in City ‘shocks and alarms’ MPs

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Cross-party Treasury committee says its private hearings suggest there has been no improvement in 20 years

MPs on the cross-party Treasury committee have been “shocked and alarmed” to hear about the scale of bullying and sexual harassment against women in the City of London, which suggests there has been “no improvement whatsoever” over the past 20 years.

The Labour MP and committee member Angela Eagle said private hearings held as part of the committee’s sexism in the City inquiry had raised significant concerns about the conditions women were forced to endure in the UK’s financial services sector.

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CBI warns of ‘material uncertainty’ over future after sexual misconduct claims

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In a statement released with annual accounts, business lobby group says it has had to deal with ‘exceptional costs’

The Confederation of British Industry has said it is suffering a “considerable level of financial stress” and there remains “material uncertainty” that it can continue operating in the long term after sexual misconduct allegations.

The scandal-hit business lobby group said it was “emerging from an unprecedented situation” that had led to “exceptional costs”, warning there was also “material uncertainty arising from the CBI’s financial performance since the year end”.

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UK school pupils ‘using AI to create indecent imagery of other children’

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Protection groups call for urgent action to help pupils understand risks of making images that legally constitute child sexual abuse

Children in British schools are using artificial intelligence (AI) to make indecent images of other children, a group of experts on child abuse and technology has warned.

They said that a number of schools were reporting for the first time that pupils were using AI-generating technology to create images of children that legally constituted child sexual abuse material.

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Women in UK military who report assaults face ostracisation, report says

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Exclusive: women tell study they were punished for breaking rules rather than supported when they reported incidents

Women in the British military who report sexual assaults are being ostracised and punished for breaching minor rules, research shows.

The forces’ “misogynistic and toxic” culture of “laddish” behaviour shapes the way it deals with and understands sexual assaults, according to the study, which is published in the Royal United Services Institution Journal.

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Calls for investigation into complaints of ‘toxic’ sexual behaviour at MoD

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Opposition and unions call on Grant Shapps to take action after 60 senior women report widespread abuse

Labour and civil service unions have called on the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to launch an urgent investigation after 60 senior female staff at the Ministry of Defence reported a widespread culture of sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues.

The opposition party called on Shapps to take action to “root out this behaviour from top to bottom”, while the heads of the FDA and PCS trade unions called for a meeting with the department’s permanent secretary, David Williams.

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At least 33% of women suffer sexual offences while commuting, BTP finds

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British Transport Police survey respondents said most incidents took place during evening rush hour

Over a third of women have been subjected to sexual harassment or sexual offences while commuting by train or tube, according to a survey commissioned by British Transport Police (BTP).

It found that 51% of those who have been victims of sexual offending said that other passengers tried to help them, however, only 18% of people who witnessed an incident reported it to police.

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MoD revelations add to sexual harassment crisis within wider military

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Complaints compiled by 60 senior civilian women follow reports of rape, assault and bullying across forces

• 60 women at MoD complain of widespread ‘toxic’ behaviour
• ‘The eyes tracking me is awful’: edited extracts

It is impossible not to conclude from the latest revelations that the Ministry of Defence faces a crisis of sexism, an epidemic of harassment – and in some cases the allegations are far worse.

The complaints, compiled by 60 senior civilian women in the department, include allegations so comprehensive it gives the impression its culture of sexism is institutionalised.

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‘Desensitised’: calls for better education after research suggests Victorian boys less likely to stop harassment

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Study of students finds marked drop from Year 7 to Year 9 in proportion of those willing to intervene

Chanel Contos, a sexual consent education advocate, says teenagers may be getting so desensitised to porn that it’s affecting their reaction to sexual harassment, with research suggesting male students become less likely to intervene when a female classmate is targeted as they reach Year 9.

The study of Victorian school students by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (Anrows), released on Wednesday, found that 20.2% of Year 7 boys intended to intervene when sexual harassment was taking place. However, just 12.8% of those in Year 9 shared that attitude.

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Robert De Niro’s production company ordered to pay $1.3m to ex-assistant

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Canal Productions liable in gender discrimination suit filed by Graham Chase Robinson, while De Niro found not personally liable

Robert De Niro’s production company was found liable on Thursday by a jury for gender discrimination and retaliation, and ordered to pay $1.3m to the Hollywood star’s former assistant.

The 80-year-old actor and director was not found personally liable by the jury in New York after a two-week trial.

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Allegations of extensive sexual abuse at Kenyan offsetting project used by Shell and Netflix

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NGOs report allegations of abuse and harassment at Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya over 12 years

Male staff at a leading Kenyan carbon-offsetting project used by Netflix, Shell and other large companies have been accused of extensive sexual abuse and harassment over more than a decade, following an investigation by two NGOs.

The Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya, operated by the California-based firm Wildlife Works, generates carbon credits by protecting dryland forests at risk of being destroyed in key elephant, lion and wildlife habitats west of Mombasa. The scheme was the first ever forest protection scheme approved by Verra, the world’s leading certifier of carbon offsets, and has also been accredited for its biodiversity and community benefits, probably generating millions of dollars in revenue in carbon-credit sales.

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Lack of data on sexual harassment among Australian medical workers condemned as ‘inexplicable’

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Workplace expert wants Medical Board of Australia to include specific question on sexual harassment in survey of workforce

A former medical director of the United Nations has called on Australia’s regulator of health professionals to specifically ask about sexual harassment in its regular survey of trainee doctors, saying it is “inexplicable” that this data is not collected.

The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) sponsors the medical training survey, a longitudinal survey that tracks the quality of medical training and questions respondents on workplace culture, including experiences of harassment, racism, discrimination and bullying.

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Female doctors vulnerable to sexual assault due to hospital work environments, expert says

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Dr Louise Stone says victims have spoken of ‘enforced closeness’ of long sessions in operating rooms and the ‘boys’ club culture’ of industry

Female doctors who have experienced sexual assault have spoken of work conditions they felt made them more vulnerable to harm from senior colleagues, an Australian researcher says.

“[They described] the enforced closeness that can occur in long sessions in operating theatres,” said Dr Louise Stone, an associate professor at the Australian National University.

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US anti-child trafficking activist resigns after sexual harassment allegations

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Tim Ballard, whose work was dramatized in Sound of Freedom, has left the Operation Underground Railroad organization

The anti-child slavery activist Tim Ballard, whose work was dramatized in the movie Sound of Freedom, resigned from the Operation Underground Railroad (Our) organization he founded amid allegations he sexually harassed colleagues, it was reported on Monday.

Ballard, a former adviser to the Trump administration on child sexual trafficking, who is reported to be exploring a run for a US senate seat in Utah, resigned abruptly from the group in June for then-unknown reasons.

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BBC ‘urgently looking into issues raised’ by Russell Brand allegations

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Corporation says accusations span a number of years, including 2006 to 2008, when comedian worked for Radio 2

The BBC has said it is “urgently looking into the issues raised” by the publication of allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse against Russell Brand.

The Sunday Times published allegations this weekend that Brand had sexually assaulted four women after a years-long investigation into claims about his behaviour in collaboration with Channel 4’s Dispatches.

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Sexual harassment allegations cost local authorities at least £2.5m

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Exclusive: Data from past five years in England and Wales includes wage costs and victim payments for claims such as upskirting, indecent exposure and inappropriate videos

Local authorities in England and Wales have spent at least £2.5m in the past five years on costs relating to allegations of sexual harassment, an investigation by the Observer can reveal today.

Data obtained through freedom of information (FoI) laws shows that since 2018, 62 councils spent more than £1,728,900 to cover wage costs of staff who were suspended after allegations of sexual harassment, with accusations ranging from indecent exposure, upskirting, inappropriate comments and sexual assault to stalking and abuse of power.

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