What is gendered violence?

Guidance on gendered violence in the working environment. This includes examples, who is most at risk and how it affects people.

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Defining gendered violence

Gendered violence is any behaviour directed at, or affecting, a person because:

  • of their:
    • sex
    • sexual orientation
    • gender
    • gender identity
  • they do not adhere to socially prescribed gender roles.

It stems from entrenched gender or power inequalities and socially accepted ideas about:

  • how people should look or act
  • what characteristics they should have
  • their roles in the workplace, home or public life.

Gendered violence comes in many forms. It can range from comments and gestures to physical assault. It can occur through virtual platforms. It can include:

  • sexual harassment and assault
  • physical assault
  • offensive language and imagery
  • verbal abuse
  • innuendo, insinuations and put-downs
  • stalking, intimidation or threats
  • sexually explicit gestures
  • ‘deadnaming’ someone by deliberately:
    • misgendering them
    • using incorrect pronouns
    • not using their preferred name
  • ostracism, exclusion, discrimination or victimisation.

Gendered violence can be a one-off incident or repeated behaviour. It may be directed at an individual or a group.

Someone might also experience gendered violence in an indirect way. This could happen if they:

  • overhear a conversation or are part of a virtual discussion that affects their health and safety
  • witness gendered violence directed at someone else.

Interaction with other psychosocial hazards

Employers should understand how gendered violence interacts with other psychosocial hazards. For example:

  • bullying
  • aggression or violence.

These hazards may be also be present, but if they come about because of gendered factors then they are also gendered violence.

This means that ‘gendered violence’ can be both:

  • a hazard
  • the underlying cause of other hazards.

Gendered violence in the working environment

Gendered violence in the working environment is when this type of behaviour happens:

  • in the workplace, which is wherever an employee works for their employer
  • where an employee is working remotely, including if the person’s workplace is:
    • the employee’s home
    • another person’s home, such as home visits or outreach work
    • online
  • at work-related meetings, activities or events, such as a work Christmas party
  • between people who work together or share the same workplace
  • by phone, email, social media or online through a work connection
  • at employer-provided accommodation, such as fly-in fly-out sites or at work conferences.

Examples of gendered violence in the working environment include:

  • An employee being directly or indirectly excluded from training or promotion opportunities based on their sex, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.
  • A manager applying workplace policies or procedures inconsistently according to an employee’s sex, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.
  • A caller using offensive sexual language with a call centre operator.
  • An employer questioning or criticising an employee’s sexual orientation or appearance. This may be subtle or explicit.
  • Someone displaying pornographic or sexist posters.
  • People in the staff room making disparaging jokes about gay relationships. A gay colleague at a nearby table feels threatened and excluded.
  • A pub owner telling female employees they must wear short skirts to look sexy for the patrons.
  • Employees complaining about transgender staff using the gendered toilets.
  • Colleagues ridiculing a male employee for taking parental leave.

Anyone can experience or engage in gendered violence. This can include:

  • employees
  • managers
  • coworkers
  • contractors
  • site visitors
  • clients/patients
  • customers
  • students
  • volunteers
  • members of the public.

Who is most at risk?

Anyone can experience gendered violence in the working environment. It is not limited to a particular sex, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. But some people are more likely to experience it, including:

  • women
  • people who identify as non-binary
  • people who are new to the workforce
  • minors or young employees
  • people who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and gender-diverse, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQA+).
  • people who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
  • people with disability
  • people who don’t follow socially prescribed gender roles and stereotypes. These are traditional ideas about:
    • how men and women should look or act
    • what characteristics they should have
    • their roles in the workplace, home or public life
  • culturally and racially marginalised people
  • migrant workers
  • people holding temporary visas
  • people in insecure working arrangements such as fixed-term, casual or labour hire
  • apprentices.

Employees under 18

Employees aged under 18 may be more at risk of gendered violence. This is because:

  • Gendered violence can happen if there is a power imbalance. Younger people may be structurally disempowered because they:
    • need to stay employed to become qualified
    • are casual employees who may lose shifts if they make a report.
  • Young people may not recognise harmful behaviour or be confident to call it out.

If someone sees or experiences harassment or discrimination early in their career, they may think it is ‘normal’. This belief may be confirmed if no one else comments or calls it out.

Sexual behaviour directed at young employees may be a child-based sexual offence. Children often see grooming behaviours as friendship and may not identify the risks. Employers who have employees under the age of 18 must:

  • Identify the hazards they may be exposed to and the likely risks of harm.
  • Use reasonably practicable control measures to eliminate or reduce the risks. For example:
    • Require relevant employees to have a Working with Children Check.
    • Don’t assign young employees to certain tasks or ask them to work alone.
    • Provide extra supervision.
    • Offer training on harmful workplace behaviour, including gendered violence. This should cover what to do if someone’s behaviour makes them feel uncomfortable.

If an employer suspects an employee under 18 is the target of sexual behaviour, they should consider whether to contact Child Protection or Victoria Police. Employers or employees may also have mandatory reporting obligations.

Find out more about mandatory reporting at the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

Compounding risk factors

Different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation. This is known as ‘intersectionality’ and may be because of factors such as:

  • sex at birth
  • gender identity
  • sexual orientation
  • being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
  • being culturally and racially marginalised
  • migrant worker status
  • disability
  • literacy levels
  • insecure work such as casual, fixed-term, labour-hire or part-time work.

These compounding factors can increase the risk of someone experiencing gendered violence in the working environment. They can also make people less likely to report gendered violence.

Workplace risk factors

Some workplaces may have characteristics that increase the risk of gendered violence. They may also create barriers to reporting. These characteristics can include:

  • Organisational culture, such as:
    • tolerance of casual sexist, homophobic or transphobic comments. Transphobia is any negative feeling, behaviour or language directed at transgender people because of their gender identity
    • intentionally or unintentionally distributing work based on traditional gendered roles
    • a workforce that is segregated by gender, has low diversity or is dominated by one gender, age group, race or culture
    • workplace leaders with poor understanding of the nature, drivers and effects of gendered violence
    • behaviours, systems and structures that support or condone sexism, homophobia and transphobia
    • a workplace with no formal or appropriate reporting procedures, or employees don’t know about them.
  • The type of work being done, for example:
    • personal care work where an employee needs to touch a client
    • work traditionally done by one gender
    • employees who interact with members of the public.
  • The design of work, for example:
    • working at night, alone or in licensed venues
    • working from remote locations with limited supervision, such as fly-in-fly-out workers or airline crew
    • attending work functions or travelling for work
    • working at residential premises
    • employees who have restricted access to help and support.
  • The system of work, for example:
    • unsafe procedures for opening and closing the workplace
    • lack of policy and procedure to manage customers or employees who engage in harmful behaviour
    • inadequate supervision for new or young workers
    • requiring employees to wear a name tag or inappropriate uniform items
    • requiring employees to use their personal phone numbers for work.
  • Management of work, for example:
    • inadequate resourcing for the work being performed
    • rigid or rigidly enforced hierarchical management structures
    • insecure work.
  • The physical or virtual environment of the workplace, for example:
    • lack of obvious CCTV or partition screens to act as a deterrent
    • no appropriate moderation of comments on online forums or platforms.

How does it affect people?

Gendered violence can cause physical and psychological harm to:

  • the person it is directed at
  • anyone witnessing or experiencing the behaviour indirectly.

This can lead to significant social and economic costs for:

  • the affected employee
  • other employees
  • employers
  • the wider community.

Impact on the affected employee

Gendered violence can affect people in different ways. Some examples of the impacts include:

  • feelings of fear, shock and distress, hurt or humiliation
  • loss of confidence and withdrawal
  • impact on personal and family relationships
  • lower job satisfaction and ability to work
  • negative effect on career aspirations, goals or progress
  • financial loss or economic disadvantage from:
    • taking leave
    • leaving a job
    • seeking legal advice
  • psychological injuries or illnesses such as:
    • depression
    • anxiety
    • acute stress disorder
    • post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • physical injuries or illnesses such as:
    • cardiovascular disease
    • musculoskeletal disorders
    • immune deficiency
    • gastrointestinal disorders
    • injuries from an assault.

Impacts on the employer and workplace

Gendered violence also has implications for the employer and working environment. Some examples of the impacts include:

  • high turnover and poor staff retention, leading to higher recruitment costs
  • reduced morale and productivity
  • increased absenteeism
  • direct and indirect costs of investigations and procedures to address reported allegations
  • reputational damage.

Employers have a positive duty to:

  • not engage in discrimination or sexual harassment
  • take reasonable steps to address these behaviours.

See Understanding psychosocial hazards and your legal duties for more information .

Further information