- Published:
- Tuesday, 18 February 2025 at 6:10 pm
Lifting three heavy folders of materials onto the table before us, one former client explained that all these documents came from her legal case.
For her, the process of bringing a legal claim was long, difficult, and hard to understand.
When asked by one of our lawyers what we could do to better support victim-survivors through legal processes, her response stuck with us – ‘walk beside us’.
Insights from victim-survivors with lived experience of sexual harassment legal proceedings are invaluable. These help us ensure our practice is meeting our clients’ needs in a trauma-informed way.
As part of our Equality Law Program’s specialist workshop on sexual harassment litigation on 12 February 2025, we launched our new resource Walk beside us.
Walk beside us reflects on the work of our Equality Law Program’s lived experience advisory group.
It shares our reflections on trauma-informed and client-centred legal practice and facilitating a reference group that includes lived experience members.
It also sets out the next steps for our specialist sexual harassment and discrimination services.
Associate Director Catherine Hemingway says the Equality Law Program has been working with victim-survivors of workplace sexual harassment since 2010.
‘Over that time, we have seen the pervasive nature of workplace sexual harassment, the deep harm and trauma it causes, and the resilience, courage and strength of victim-survivors,’ said Catherine.
‘We were privileged to have three members of our lived experience advisory group, who are victim-survivors of sexual harassment, join us for the launch of Walk Beside Us.
‘They generously shared their experiences and thoughts about how legal services can better support clients through a really difficult process and time in their lives.’
As Poonam Arora reflected, providing certainty (where possible) is an important way to provide safety and choice:
Certainty is important, especially after going through a trauma.
'Trauma is like someone else taking control of the events and your experience … so when it comes to certainty or specific answers, that is my right … and it will make me feel that I am in a safe and supportive environment where I am valued for who I am.’
Bryony Wilson talked about the importance of building trust and understanding the details:
‘There’s a sense of empathy and compassion that as a human lawyer you can provide to us – by understanding that we need to understand what you’re saying to us because this is our life.
This is a completely new situation to us – if we have come to you, it means that we have decided to take a stand against a violation of our human rights … we have decided to come to you to make a stand.
So please support us by walking beside us, speaking to us in ways that we can understand. Because you’re going to affect our life. We’re asking for you to help our lives.’
Sandi highlighted the importance of collaboration:
‘Just using simple language, like we – how can we work through the evidence?
Just that word gives a sense of sharing and that you’re on our team.
The more that we know you are with us, working with us, the more we can start to relax and hear what you’re saying and be informed about the better choices that we want to make for our lives.’
And Poonam expanded on how collaboration leads to empowerment:
‘For me, collaboration is respecting my perspective.
It could be that I have very different thoughts, but at least make me feel as if I have got a sense of agency and also include me in the decision making for the stuff that is going to affect me in the long-run.
So for collaboration, I don’t want to be rescued. I’m not a victim – I am a victim survivor.’
Professional development for lawyers working in sexual harassment litigation
To play a role in addressing sexual harassment and discrimination and to contribute to cultural an systemic change, lawyers working in specialist sexual harassment and discrimination services need to have expertise in trauma-informed and client-centred service delivery, as well as technical legal expertise.
To collectively build on the expertise across the legal assistance sector, a day-long professional development workshop on sexual harassment litigation was held following the launch of Walk beside us.
A total of 64 people participated in-person, and a further 87 online, in sessions which covered:
- evidence in sexual harassment matters
- ethical issues in the settlement of sexual harassment matters
- assessing quantum and other remedies in sexual harassment matters
- learnings from across the sector – panel discussion with community legal centres.
The day aimed to bring people together to equip us both to assist individual victim survivors and contribute to broader systemic impacts, including prevention and cultural change.
Our sexual harassment reference group
In 2021, our Equality Law Program was among a number of legal aid commissions, Aboriginal legal services, community legal centres and other organisations to receive funding from the Australian Government to increase access to legal assistance for victim-survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. This funding was provided as part of implementing the Respect@Work reforms.
Our reference group was established in 2022, to help inform and guide the expansion of our sexual harassment services.
The reference group includes victim-survivors of sexual harassment, as well as those who work closely with them.
Their valuable input helps us to continuously improve our sexual harassment legal services.
We welcome membership enquiries from people who have sought legal help following an experience of workplace sexual harassment.
Read more about joining our sexual harassment lived-experience reference group.
More information
Download the Walk beside us report:
Read more about our specialist sexual harassment and discrimination services.
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