I was at lunch with a workmate
who seemed a bit distracted and edgy the last few weeks.
I asked her what was going on, and she eventually told me
that our boss had been sexually harassing her.
She said it was getting so bad that she didn't want to work here anymore.
I just listened and made sure she knew that it wasn't her fault,
and that what he was doing was not just inappropriate,
it was actually sexual harassment.
Jokes are a real big one, I reckon.
And the really crude stuff comes out at after-work drinks
when people let their guard down a little bit.
When people say something sexual and offensive about a colleague,
but it's said in a joking way so they can kind of just brush it off
if people respond badly.
Questions or comments that are too personal,
like whether you got any on the weekend.
Making sleazy comments about what people in the office may look like.
Guys not being able to take their eyes off your boobs
when you're talking to them.
It can be the more direct things too,
like groping or touching you in a way that's far too personal.
It's when someone follows you around and corners you somewhere
where you can't easily get away from them.
Sexting can be sexual harassment,
especially if you're using work phones.
I run a small team and it turns out that one of my male staff
had been sexually harassed by one of his coworkers.
When I eventually found out about it, I spoke to him
and I asked him what he would like me to do about it.
He didn't want to lodge a formal complaint,
but of course he did want the harassment to stop.
We agreed that I'd speak to the other worker
and remind them about our workplace policies on sexual harassment.
I also decided I'd get someone in to talk to the whole team
about bystander training,
just so that everyone knew how and what to do
if they saw such a thing happen again.
This guy I used to work with, he was obsessed with a colleague of ours,
and I could see how uncomfortable this was making her feel.
So I asked her if she was OK.
She seemed relieved, and she didn't want to report him
because she was scared about what other people would think
if they found out.
The next day, she wrote me an email
to thank me for bringing it up with her.
And about a month later, she filed a formal report.
At after-work drinks, some of the guys
were talking about the girls from work,
rating them on a scale of 1 to 10.
None of the girls were around, but I thought it was a bit off.
I thought to myself, "That could be my girlfriend or my sister."
Eventually, I chimed in and said, "Come on, guys, that's enough."
They were pretty embarrassed, so we moved on and changed the topic.