Web resource:	http://www.urcot.org.au/sites/default/files/From%20OWP%20website%2011%20Oct%20SafeatWorkPDF.pdf
Type:	Report
Title:	Safe at work? women’s experience of violence in the workplace – summary report of research
Authors:	Office of Women's Policy
Keywords:	Economic costs;Workplaces
Year:	2005
Publisher:	Office of Women’s Policy
Notes:	This reports on the Statewide Steering Committee to Reduce Violence Against Women in the Workplace with regard to the prevention of violence against women in a workplace, including workplace violence, bullying and sexual harassment. The aim was to identify and report on the extent, impact and costs of all forms of workplace violence against women and also against particular groups of women. The methodology included a literature review; a household telephone survey of 1,000 Victorian women; focus groups with Indigenous women, lesbians and immigrant women; and interviews and group discussions with women in selected industries. Definition includes: physical assault, threatening behaviour, bullying, verbal abuse, and various forms of harassment. It notes that much of the literature deals with workplace violence in a non-gendered way and avoids critical analysis on gender, class, race and sexuality. Issues of power and identity are rarely considered in the discussion on workplace violence. It argues that this literature is gendered as it largely excludes women’s experiences of violence within the organisational structure. When gender is included in analyses of workplace violence, issues include: women having difficulty labelling their experiences as violence and harassment; women over-represented in low-paid, low-status jobs; men are more likely to be the perpetrators of violence against women in the workplace (although women also perpetrate violence against other women); family violence can intrude into the victim’s workplace; and occupational health and safety research viewed women’s work as safe work. One estimate of the cost of bullying to Australian employers is between 6 and 13 billion dollars each year. The telephone survey found that 607 (62.1%) women had experienced violence at work in the last 5 years; 484 (50%) women witnessed violence directed towards others in the workplace; only 39% initially identified that they had experienced or witnessed ‘violence’; and 69% of men perpetrated violence against women in the workplace, compared with 31% of the perpetrators being women.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/19061
Physical description:	71 p.
Appears in Collections:	Reports

Items in ANROWS library are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.