Thousands of female workers at two of Australia’s largest mining companies are expected to join new class action lawsuits, alleging systemic sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
The class actions against BHP and Rio Tinto contain alleged abuse against women at remote mining sites that includes being urinated on, defecated in front of, groped, verbally abused and pressured for sex.
These are just some of the horrific allegations that have come to light since the class actions were brought against the mining giants.
JGA Saddler lawyer Joshua Aylward, who is running the class actions, has spoken to hundreds of women who have worked at Rio Tinto and BHP worksites. Speaking with the ABC, he detailed that abuse they’ve experienced, saying, “these women have been exposed to masturbation videos. They’ve been exposed to penises being flopped out in front of them. And have been exposed to men, who drop their pants and defecate in front of them and then laugh about it.”
“There are women who’ve had spy cameras put into their rooms by certain men to watch them undress or shower,” he added.
The names of the lead applicants in the lawsuit have been suppressed due to safety concerns. One is a former security guard with Rio Tinto, and the other was a machinery operator at BHP. They were both fired after speaking out, saying they endured sexual harassment everyday at work.
“I was sent unsolicited sexually explicit messages, videos and pictures from a colleague including pictures and videos of him masturbating in his on-site room. Rio Tinto allowed him to resign but after my complaint I was overlooked for opportunities to upskill,” the woman who worked at Rio Tinto said in a statement, detailing her allegations.
The lead applicant from BHP also detailed her allegations in a statement and said “there have been times I haven’t reported an incident for fear of what might happen to my career, my job and my personal safety”.
The federal sex discrimination commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, has called out the two mining companies for using heavy-handed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to gag women. An NDA, also referred to as a confidentiality agreement, acknowledges a confidential relationship between two or more parties to protect shared information.
Most of the women who have spoken up about their alleged abuse have been forced to sign NDAs, and Dr Cody says she’s “deeply concerned” that this process is being used to shut down women’s complaints. She says as well that it’s important to consider whether a company’s use of NDAs is interfering with its positive duty, since one of the requirements is “transparency and accountability”.
In a statement on Wednesday, BHP said: “Sexual harassment has no place in our workplaces or indeed anywhere. We are committed to providing a safe and respectful workplace for everyone.”
A spokesman from Rio Tinto also gave a statement saying the company was aware that a claim had been filed and that “we do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or sex-based harassment. We take all concerns about workplace safety, culture and breaches of our values, or our code of conduct extremely seriously”.
Both companies have now undergone widespread workplace cultural reviews, but assaults are continuing. Last month, Rio Tinto’s progress results revealed that eight people had reported experiencing actual or attempted sexual assault or rape. This number is compared to five who reported the same in 2021. And thirty-two people, this year, reported being pressured for sex at work.
BHP’s progress results revealed there were 417 reports of sexual harassment in the last financial year.
In 2022, a Western Australia state government review into abuse at mining sites found unsafe working conditions for women in the industry. It found that women had to frequently deal with sexual harassment and sexual assault.
The NSW Sexual Violence Helpline is available to anyone in NSW impacted by sexual violence. Call 1800 424 017.
Free 24/7 trauma-specialist counselling is available to anyone in Australia who has been impacted by sexual, domestic and family violence. Call 1800 FULL STOP (1800 385 578).
In an emergency, call 000.