Failing to Recognize Objectification and Sexualization of Women as Systemic Discrimination: Workplace Harassment Reforms in Australia
Harvard Journal of Law and Gender Online 2022
9 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2022
Date Written: January 10, 2022
Abstract
The Respect at Work reforms of 2021 do not go far enough in protecting Australian women from the systemic harassment in their workplaces and beyond. In this article, we focus on the changes to the Sex Discrimination Act and argue that the reforms should have explicitly clarified that the display or use of sexist material at work can foster a sexually hostile environment for women. This omission reflects a fundamental flaw in both the Respect at Work Act and the Sex Discrimination Act: they both fail to address the fundamentally systematic nature of harassment and discrimination against women that permeates all facets of society.
Keywords: Harassment, Discrimination, Feminist Thoery, Labour Law, Human Rights Law, Feminism, Gender Studies, Pornography, Discrimination Law, Equality, Sexualization, Objectification
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