"SEXUAL harassment happens everywhere and it needs to stop."
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These are the words of a young Hunter woman who felt forced to leave her job because of the regular uninvited attentions of an elderly man - a customer - in a cafe.
It's a story repeated across the country, according to recent surveys conducted by unions representing Australia's hospitality workers.
A United Voice survey of 300 people in 2018 found 89 per cent of respondents in the cafe and restaurant industry had experienced sexual harassment at work.
The law defines it as any unwelcome sexual behaviour that makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. Women make up the bulk of those harassed, with women under 24 the most at risk.
An article today about just one Hunter woman's experiences shows how vulnerable young workers are to harassment, how isolated they can feel and how often they are failed by the adults around them, including other customers, colleagues and employers.
When a much older man tells a younger woman who is paid to serve him food and drink that she is "sex on legs", and asks to meet her after work, it should be seen for what it is, an abuse of power, particularly where she has taken repeated steps to defuse the situation.
Australian surveys over at least a decade have shown sexual harassment often escalates from non-physical behaviours such as sexually suggestive jokes and "off" comments to more serious behaviours.
The United Voice survey reported one in five women said they had been sexually assaulted after a period of sexual harassment.
Seven out of 10 respondents to the survey said they had been subjected to inappropriate touching.
After five years of a royal commission into the sexual abuse of children in institutions, including churches, it should be clear to Australians that one person's determination to sexualise an otherwise non-sexual environment can have devastating consequences.
And yet too many people still fail to see adults, especially young adults, can be just as vulnerable, particularly when others fail to respond.
"If you hear disgusting words come out of a man's mouth to a young girl, say something," said the Hunter woman.
That's a challenge for us all.
Issue: 39,357.