Page 2116 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
One in two mothers reported experiencing discrimination in the workplace at some stage during their pregnancy. This discrimination caused 22 per cent of those mothers to give up on the workplace altogether. Fathers often get the same treatment, too, with the report showing that 27 per cent reported discrimination in the workplace related to parental leave. And that is just the men who reported it.
The stress and the emotional and psychological toll this takes on women and parents and their mental health is of great concern. One male boss said to his employee, “We really need to get you back to your children.” A supervisor of mine, who happened to be a woman, said to me, “You are coping, are you? Well, you can’t be, because I’m so stressed that I go home and sit in the bath and cry.” I answered, “I’m fine. I go home and feed the kids.”
When pregnant, I have been asked, “Do you have a TV?” “Have you finished yet?” “What will you do after the baby’s born?” “My wife was a better woman because she stayed home with the kids.” “Who is looking after your children?” “Do you know what causes it?” “Was it planned?” I have been sent to the cafe to buy the boss a coffee, when walking is not that easy at 8½ months pregnant, getting back to the office and being sent to buy the boss a new toothbrush. It can be subtle. It can seem funny to some, to have an Aussie laugh about pregnancy, but it is often intended to belittle, and at other times it is intended to corner women when they have the least means of fighting back. It always leaves you feeling powerless and you can never think of a comeback line fast enough.
In the report we read that Kerry, a pregnant cashier, was refused a stool to sit on while checking items behind a register, to assist with the pressure and swelling in her feet. Alice was refused a request to take toilet breaks outside the allocated schedule. She ended up soiling herself in front of customers, suffering humiliation and discomfort.
Discrimination against women who bear children and are in the workplace and generally in the community is a blight on our society and a blight on all our futures. If you see it, you must speak out. If you know a pregnant woman, back her up, encourage her, be part of a solution.
When I was given the role of shadow minister for women, I asked for a briefing from the department. In the briefing I asked, “Is the government doing anything to address harassment of pregnant women in the workplace?” and the answer I got was, “I take great offence because the ACT public service is a large employer in this town.” I concluded from that answer that it was not a great focus of the government, and that perhaps they were not aware of the problem. But I did add in that conversation that it happens all the time, and it does. I welcome the federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s report into pregnancy and mothering discrimination, and I seek in this motion to raise our need to respond to this concern.
Some people may think this type of discrimination does not exist. Just because you do not see it, it does not mean that it is not there. Generally, harassment does not happen in front of everybody. It could be happening here in the Assembly; who would know? It is like other forms of belittling of women, and it is very hard for women to fight,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video