Category: Sexual Harassment

Former Justice Dyson Heydon sexually harassed 6 women, High Court finds

An independent inquiry has found Justice Dyson Heydon sexually harassed six young women as they worked as judge’s associates in the High Court of Australia.

The investigation was prompted after Josh Bornstein, Principal lawyer with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, wrote to the Chief Justice and the Chief Executive of the Court in March 2019 notifying them of complaints of sexual harassment against Mr Heydon, as well as raising concerns about inadequate procedures within the High Court for addressing judicial misconduct.

Mr Bornstein said the investigation had unveiled a pattern of predatory behaviour and sexual harassment over many years by Mr Heydon towards young female associates he employed and highlighted a gap in both addressing judicial misconduct and protecting their employees from that misconduct.

“At the time that this sexual harassment occurred, Dyson Heydon was in his 60s, a conservative judge, a prominent Christian and a married man,” Mr Bornstein said.

Source: Former Justice Dyson Heydon sexually harassed 6 women, High Court finds – Lawyers Weekly

https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/about/media-centre/media-statements/2020/investigation-upholds-sexual-harassment-complaints-high-court-judge-dyson-heydon/

 

Reports of ‘revenge porn’ skyrocketed during lockdown, we must stop blaming victims for it

Coronavirus has meant more time at home, more time online and more image-based abuse.

Perpetration rates were highest among men in their 20s and 30s, with one in three men aged 20 to 29 years disclosing they had engaged in these behaviours.

In Australia, we have specific laws across the country criminalising image-based abuse, except in Tasmania.

If you’re a victim of image-based abuse, you can document the evidence and report to police, and through the eSafety Commissioner’s online portal to request the images are removed. In over 90% of cases, the eSafety Commissioner is successful in image removal.

Source: Reports of ‘revenge porn’ skyrocketed during lockdown, we must stop blaming victims for it

Revenge porn in Australia: the law is only as effective as the law enforcement

Revenge porn, known more formally as image-based abuse, is the act of sharing or threatening to share naked or sexually explicit pictures or video without the depicted person’s consent, as well as taking explicit images or videos of people without their knowledge.

Legislation has been introduced to criminalise this behaviour in every state and territory besides Tasmania. These laws are some of the most comprehensive in the world yet they seem to have done little to reduce instances of image-based abuse.

Australia may have revolutionised the way image-based abuse is treated legally but cultural change seems to be lagging behind.

[F]ewer than half of Australians even know it is a criminal offence to share intimate images without consent, and victims are often still blamed for their abuse.

Source: Revenge porn in Australia: the law is only as effective as the law enforcement | Society | The Guardian

Harassment fears as students post extreme pornography in online lectures

Students are posting extreme pornography in online lectures, prompting academics to warn that the switch to digital learning in the coronavirus pandemic will increase harassment at UK universities.

Source: Harassment fears as students post extreme pornography in online lectures | Higher education | The Guardian

US McDonald’s workers file $500m sexual harassment lawsuit

Two McDonald’s employees in Florida have filed a $500m (£400m) class action lawsuit, accusing the fast food giant of fostering “systemic sexual harassment”.

It is the most recent in a series of sexual harassment allegations waged against the company, including another class action lawsuit in Michigan launched in November 2019.

Source: US McDonald’s workers file $500m sexual harassment lawsuit – BBC News

Inmates At New Jersey Women’s Prison Have Been Sexually Abused For Years

Inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton were subjected to cruel and unusual punishment that included them being forced to engage in sexual acts with staff to avoid punishment or in exchange for items like cigarettes. Most of the incidents involved senior officials who had worked at the facility for many years, according to a detailed report released Monday by the Department of Justice.

If a prisoner reports allegations of sexual abuse, they undergo a physical examination while in handcuffs and shackles, are strip-searched and then moved to the maximum-security compound where they are held for up to 72 hours in solitary confinement until they are interviewed. They are then likely to be moved from their unit or their job instead of the alleged abuser being moved away from them, which the NJDOC has the authority to do. This entire process is viewed as “retaliatory, punitive, and traumatic” by the inmates, which could dissuade victims to speak out about abuse, the report said.

Source: Inmates At New Jersey Women’s Prison Have Been Sexually Abused For Years: DOJ | HuffPost Australia

The legal solution to prevent sexual harassment at work

With more than a quarter of women reporting experiencing sexual harassment at work, new legislation could go a long way to address inappropriate behaviour.

Anti-discrimination laws (ADL) have been prohibiting sexual harassment in workplaces for over three decades. However, sexual harassment still remains prevalent, with rates of the offences increasing or increasing rates of self-reporting.

ADL is limited because of four main features: the rule it imposes is negative prohibition rather than a positive duty to prevent; it is enforceable by individual victims; any of the enforcement is primarily through a private, confidential conciliation process and all the remedies granted are ordinarily individual and compensatory in nature.

Source: The legal solution to prevent sexual harassment at work – Lawyers Weekly

‘Broken system’: Weinstein reaches $US25m settlement deal with more than 30 women

Time’s Up has declared Harvey Weinstein’s massive settlement on his civil cases proof of a “broken system that privileges powerful abusors.”

The disgraced movie mogul has reached a US$25 million settlement with a number of women who accused him of sexual misconduct, bringing to a close almost all civil lawsuits filed against him since 2017. He still faces a seperate criminal charges over multiple accusations of sexual assault, due to be heard in January.

The news has come from his attorneys, with a US Bankruptcy Court judge still yet to formally seal the deal. Under the terms of the deal, Weinstein won’t have to admit to any wrongdoing. Nor will he personally have to pay a cent, according to the New York Times which has reported the settlement.

Source: ‘Broken system’: Weinstein reaches $US25m settlement deal with more than 30 women

‎The Gender at Work Podcast: Episode 12: Patriarchy Impeached – Is this what justice looks like? The Catherine Claxton story on Apple Podcasts

‎This episode walks us through Catherine Claxton’s story, which has been assembled by G@W Senior Associate Joanne Sandler and Julie Thompson, both long time UN staffers. Catherine’s lawyers — Mary Dorman and Ellen Yaroshefsky — recount the events that led Catherine, a junior UN staffer, to charge an Undersecretary General with sexual abuse. What unfolded in response mirrors the Me Too stories of today. Patriarchy closed ranks around the perpetrator and demanded allegiance to authority from those in the system; attempts were made to discredit the complainant – in this case, Catherine – and bury her in bureaucratic legalese as she sought to use the existing mechanisms and processes of adjudication to seek justice; and when all the evidence was in and a third party judgement came in favoring her, the UN buried the report. Finally the perpetrator was fired and was given a glorious send off. Sound familiar? Is this what justice looks like in cases of sexual harassment and abuse? How do we impeach patriarchy and hold it accountable?

Source: ‎The Gender at Work Podcast: Episode 12: Patriarchy Impeached – Is this what justice looks like? The Catherine Claxton story on Apple Podcasts