SYDNEY: Australia launched an independent inquiry on Wednesday into workplace sexual harassment, one of the first of its kind in the world, hoping to find solutions to problems brought to light by the global #MeToo movement.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said the inquiry was prom­pted by the social media movement known through the Twitter hashtag #MeToo, which has highlighted sexual misconduct in business, entertainment and politics.

The planned 12-month investigation by the commission, to be part-funded by the government, will seek personal submissions from the public and consider the legal framework for dealing with the issue before making final recommendations.

“We are not aware across the globe of any place where the independent national human rights institution is taking a national approach to look at problems and solutions to sexual harassment,” AHRC Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The inquiry will focus on the financial consequences for women who are sexually harassed or assaulted in the workplace, something Fed­e­ral Minister for Women Kel­ly O’Dwyer said could be disastrous for individuals.

“It might mean that she loses her job or it might mean that she decides to go for another job but can’t get a reference from her former employer, it might mean she’s being denied promotions,” O’Dwyer told Austra­lian Broadcasting Corp.

Jenkins said that results from a national survey, due to be released in August, were expected to show an increase in workplace sexual harassment from 2012, when one in four women and one in six men reported being sexually harassed in the previous five years.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2018