By Rae Cooper, Elizabeth Hill, Suneha Seetahul, Meraiah Foley, Marnie Harris, Charlotte Hock, Amy Tapsell

Sexual harassment is a systemic and pervasive feature of the retail industry ecosystem and a persistent part of daily interactions between retail workers, and their managers, peers and customers. It is such a common experience that many retail workers perceive it as just 'part of the job'. Sexual harassment causes harm on multiple levels - it affects the wellbeing of individual employees, damages team cohesion, and creates economic damage for businesses.

This study reveals that sexual harassment is a persistent and pervasive feature of retail work, arising from a complex interplay of institutional, industry-wide and organisational factors. Institutional frameworks, including employment laws, set the context for retail operations and workforce experiences.

The insights in this report provide a detailed understanding of the drivers of workplace sexual harassment in the retail industry, offering a foundation for industry-wide change.

Key findings:

• Sexual harassment in the retail workplace is experienced by retail workers as routine and unavoidable, influenced by industry norms and narratives such as the customer is always right.

• A range of people perpetrate sexual harassment including managers, colleagues and customers.

• The retail industry must improve its organisational policies, training practices and reporting processes to better prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment.

ANROWS Research Report 04/2024

Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS( 2024. 126p.