• Posted on 30 Jan 2020
  • 2-minute read

The #MeToo movement has blazed a trail for victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

It began in the United States where several high-profile court cases have followed.

In Australia, it’s been a very different story – the main legal action has come through defamation action by the alleged perpetrators against media organisations who aired the harassment claims or against the women who spoke out.

UTS Law’s Associate Professor Karen O’Connell has been part of the academic involvement in #MeToo since the beginning and took part in the inaugural Berkeley conference, 'The Globalization of the #MeToo Movement' in May 2018.

She says despite both Federal and State legislation prohibiting it, sexual harassment remains a pervasive and largely hidden problem in Australia.

Women are scared to speak up for fear of losing their jobs or reputations; and when they try to maintain privacy – or even cover up the harassment to protect themselves from the fall out - their wishes may be overridden.

Dr Karen O’Connell, Professor, UTS Faculty of Law

Dr O’Connell points out that this is partly because of the strict defamation laws which have skewed the way the movement has played out both legally and politically.

It is clear these laws have had a chilling effect on public discussions of specific allegations of sexual harassment or assault, and have arguably acted as a further deterrent to individuals reporting harassment.

Dr Karen O’Connell, Professor, UTS Faculty of Law

There’s a clear need for both legal and political reform. Dr O’Connell cites, as one example, the need to improve the laws of ‘vicarious liability’ where employers could be held more accountable if they cannot demonstrate they have taken all ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent harassment occurring in the workplace.

“Defamation laws that tip the balance of power towards public-figure harassers, legal structures that provide disincentives to bring complaints and cases, low damages pay-outs, and punitive attitudes to those who do, all stop current sexual harassment laws and policies from being effective.”

Dr O’Connell says Australia should no longer tolerate a system where victims are effectively ‘silenced by defamation and disbelief’.

* ‘Silenced by Defamation and Disbelief’ is published in the book The Global #Metoo Movement (Full Court Press, Washington, 2020).

This is Law research in action

See where a Law research degree could take you.

Share

Researcher

Professor Karen O'Connell

Dr Karen O'Connell

Professor, UTS Law Faculty

Research snapshots

Webpage

Factors outside the High Court's control influence the cases it hears and thereby the direction and pace of legal change in Australia.

Webpage

Legal measures designed to help people with disability in the court system can in fact work against them.

Webpage

Should the impacts of climate change drive Pacific Islander people from their homes, serious questions arise over their relationship with their home country.

Webpage

The Last Outlaws, a trilogy podcast made at UTS about Australia’s last proclaimed outlaws, Jimmy and Joe Governor, has taken out the Digital History Prize at the 2022 NSW Premier’s History Awards.