All Victorians deserve to be safe at work, but the use of non-disclosure agreements in workplace disputes often means that too often sexual harassment and gendered violence remains hidden.
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), often referred to as confidentiality agreements, are used frequently in the settlement of sexual harassment cases, as well as bullying cases, wage theft cases, and other cases of employers behaving so badly that their reputation is on the line.
NDAs enable harassers to continue with impunity and allow employers to hide health and safety risks from their employees, prospective employees, clients and the public. It's not good enough.
NDAs protect employers from accountability and release them from their obligations to address systems of work that allow sexual harassment to occur, enabling repeat offenders to continue and preventing workers from talking their experiences and seeking necessary support.
If we’re to end gendered violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, victim-survivors must be empowered to speak out.
That’s why we’re demanding the Victorian government pass legislation to restrict the use of NDAs in cases of workplace sexual harassment. Tell the Victorian government you want NDAs restricted.
NDAs should only be allowed where specifically requested by a victim-survivor and survivors should be allowed to speak out later should they wish.
We need to end the silence. Support the campaign by signing the petition.