According to the report, which was looked into by Elizabeth Broderick, former sex discrimination commissioner of Australia, “bullying and sexism are systemic in Rio Tinto workplaces, with nearly half of people experiencing bullying.”
Workplace Reviews focuses on workers’ experiences over the past five years. Twenty-one women reported actual or attempted rape or sexual assault, while nearly a third said they experienced sexual harassment at work, the audit found.
Meanwhile, racism was found to be “common in many areas”, with a poll “signaling” [that] People working in a country different from their birth experienced higher rates of racism, and 39.8% of men and 31.8% of women who identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in Australia experienced racism.”
Rio Tinto employs people in 35 countries. The company said its workplace review included calls for more than 10,000 respondents and written entries in online surveys, interactive group and in-person sessions.
“The findings of this report are deeply disturbing to me and should be to everyone reading this. I offer my heartfelt apologies to every member of the team, past or present, who has suffered as a result of these behaviors. This That’s not the kind of company we want to be.”
Broderick, who is also the UN special envoy on discrimination against women, commended the company for “actively commissioning this study”.
“However, there is a clear recognition that new approaches are needed to address these issues,” she said.
The company has now pledged to follow dozens of new recommendations to improve its culture.
Among them are pledges to “ensure that women and other minority groups are deployed to operational sites as part of a group” or with additional support; setting up a new unit to allow people experiencing harmful behavior to report it early; and to increase diversity across the company.
79% of Rio Tinto’s workforce is male, although the company has recently taken steps to recruit more female employees.
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