#metooNZ: How far we’ve come and what’s still to do

It’s been more than a year since the global Me Too movement exploded into public consciousness, with women sharing stories of sexual harassment and assault. Alison Mau and Michelle Duff review our progress and what we have yet to accomplish.

In New Zealand, Stuff has driven a national conversation about the issue since launching the #metooNZ project – the biggest and most comprehensive investigation into sexual harassment in New Zealand – in February last year.

We have logged hundreds of hours investigating survivors’ stories, and published dozens of articles uncovering both individual perpetrators and systemic failures.

But what has actually changed? More than a year on from Me Too, why are New Zealanders still waiting for a meaningful and co-ordinated national response?

We asked government ministers to provide us with concrete examples of what they or their ministries had done to measure the issue of workplace sexual misconduct, or tackle it.

The answer was: Nothing much.

What needs to change?

The only measurable change has been for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to start keeping records of sexual harassment complaints, as directed by Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter. Previously, these were counted with all other complaints.

Minister for Workplace Relations Iain-Lees Galloway pointed to a webpage of resources WorkSafe had developed to help people write sexual harassment policies.

Green MP and UnderSecretary for Justice Jan Logie said the time for an inquiry had passed, as sexual harassment was an issue ‘‘everyone understands is real’’. A new strategy to tackle family and sexual violence was under development, and a comprehensive work plan to address sexual harassment would form part of this. The State Services Commission and WorkSafe were also involved.

Justice Minister Andrew Little did not respond.

But those spoken to by #metooNZ say quantifying the problem has to be part of the solution. ‘‘The Government’s moves [don’t] take us far enough,’’ says Kathryn McPhillips, Rape Prevention Education director.

‘‘We also need ways to track and hold accountable those who are causing harm, and appropriate ways to support those who protest the harassment being done to them.’’

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has been pushing the Government to create a nationwide sexual harassment strategy, and a centralised agency to investigate complaints and provide victim support. Former equal employment opportunities commissioner Jackie Blue has also said there needs to be a national inquiry.

As yet, the HRC has not been empowered to act. In contrast, the Australian Human Rights Commission was partfunded by its government to conduct a year-long national inquiry into sexual harassment and its effects on work and the economy last June. Potential outcomes include a national framework to eradicate sexual harassment.

Last year, it held a national telephone survey on sexual harassment, polling more than 10,000 Australians. It found one in three people had experienced sexual harassment at work in the past five years.

Blue told Stuff the progress was inadequate, despite the changes to MBIE’s datacollection systems. These have captured 63 complaints since July 2018.

‘‘The numbers are low and noone would seriously accept this is the real picture,’’ she said.

‘‘The fact is we do not know the true extent of sexual harassment in our workplaces. We need to urgently prioritise a workplace survey to understand [its extent].’’

McPhillips agrees. ‘‘They would also do well to replicate [the #metooNZ] survey on a regular basis, and commit to public reporting.’’

Other experts spoken to by Stuff pointed to even earlier interventions that could make a difference, including comprehensive sex education in secondary schools. An Education Review Office report last year found students were being let down at school by a lack of education around consent, pornography and sexual violence, and that this hadn’t changed in a decade.

More help for victims to get back into the workplace would also help. Massey University school of management lecturer Kate Blackwood has found workplace harassment and bullying typically result in lower productivity and commitment levels from the victim, absenteeism, anxiety, depression and low morale.

But mental trauma resulting from sexual harassment – including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression – is not covered by ACC. It does pay out for mental trauma from sexual assault; in the past 10 years, this cost $636 million. (The figure did not separate work and non-work-related claims.)

In June, Logie’s office said she had been holding ‘‘informal discussions’’ to extend this cover to sexual harassment.

Rays of hope

Individual organisations are beginning to recognise the importance of women feeling safe in the workplace, and are pushing for gender equality.

Frances Joychild, QC, has worked in employment law for decades and wrote one of the most thorough and damning reports into sexual harassment in a public organisation. The Joychild report, released last year, examined decades of sexual harm in the New Zealand Defence Force and led to promises of change. She said a cultural shift had already happened in her lifetime but it hadn’t yet gone far enough.

‘‘When I grew up, they used to say she was raped but not injured. Now we know that the injuries are far more lifelong than a physical beating.’’

She would like to see more support for victims of sexual violence, and a change to the way courts operate to address the low conviction rates for sexual offending.

Activists are achieving change too. Legal researcher Zoe Lawton launched an anonymous blog that uncovered hundreds of stories of harassment in New Zealand’s legal profession. She said current reporting methods shared one fatal flaw – isolation.

‘‘You go to your employer, it’s by yourself, you go to police, the Human Rights Commission, it’s by yourself. It’s understandable people don’t want to do that. It’s terrifying.’’

Lawton said her research showed victims were more likely to feel comfortable coming forward if others had too. In 2018, she teamed up with the British creator of Vault, a softwarebased reporting system where employees can log a complaint securely, and decide whether to make a complaint straight away, or only when another complaint about the same person is made.

Lawton thinks these kinds of systems are also better from the organisation’s point of view.

‘‘It’s great for employers, because it’s their nightmare scenario having to conduct an investigation where it’s one person’s word against another’s. But if there’s five people saying this person did this to me, and it’s all similar behaviour, that’s perfect for them.’’

Lawton said data from WorkSafe and the Human Rights Commission needed to be joined up – and a national inquiry was overdue.

‘‘Some people have the false perception that the harassment women are experiencing isn’t that common or serious and the Me Too movement is an over-reaction.

‘‘An inquiry will show the true extent of the issue and get the doubters to take it seriously.’’

Life goes on for others

Many survivors find the repercussions of sexual violence can linger throughout their lives.

Others reported changing everything about their appearance, wearing baggy clothes, gaining weight and not wearing makeup so as not to attract attention. The human cost of sexual harassment remains unmeasured.

For those we have spoken to, it is immeasurable.

One year on, our work is not yet done. It’s shown us sexual harassment is pervasive and corrosive in New Zealand workplaces – but it does not have to be inevitable.

It’s time for everyone who has the opportunity to shape the culture of our workplaces, to say of workplace harassment: I’ve had enough.