Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment

Sex discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than a person of the opposite sex would be treated in the same or similar circumstances. The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) explains the workings of the Sex Discrimination Legislation including examples of unlawful behaviour.

The legislation prescribes a person may not unfairly because of their sex be treated differently. This can include marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy or because of breastfeeding.

Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual behaviour which is likely to offend, humiliate or intimidate. It has nothing to do with mutual attraction or friendship. Examples include:

• unwelcome physical touching
• staring or leering
• suggestive comments or jokes
• unwanted requests for dates or sex
• emailing pornography or rude jokes
• sending sexually explicit texts
• intrusive questions about a person’s private life or body
• displaying posters, magazines or screensavers of a sexual nature

Additional information is contained within a publication entitled Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment.  It can be accessed through the AHRC link - https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/Sex%20Discrimination_2014_Web.pdf