Drastic action is needed to combat widespread sexual harassment in the hospitality industry, a researcher says.
The extent of sexual harassment at any workplace is currently unknown, as the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has never kept data on it.
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MBIE will begin to keep a centralised record of allegations of workplace sexual harassment from next month, in a bid to track patterns of complaints.
A researcher, Dr Jill Poulston, said she welcomed the register, but said strategies and safety checks also needed to be introduced to protect vulnerable hospitality employees.
"What also came out of [my research], what really rocked me, was the fact that it was the people that were the predators, were also the people that they could turn to for help so there was nowhere to go," she said.
"So I logged what the actions were that were taken and in most cases, nothing happened."
Dr Poulston credited the #MeToo movement with bringing the issue of sexual harassment to the forefront. The campaign was partly in reaction to widespread reports of sexual harassment by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is facing charges in court.
"I always used to joke that my sexual harassment research was not sexy enough for people to want to know about, so suddenly it's become interesting because people realise how serious it is and how bad it is."
Hospitality NZ policy manager Nadine Melhopt said the industry had made significant headway in dealing with the problem.
"Over the years we did a project called 'Safer Cities All Night' with Rape Prevention Education where we did some workshops around keeping customers safe initially ... but when you look at it, it actually makes people in hospitality aware of exactly what is sexual assault."
Ms Melhopt said the introduction of open kitchens and a move away from terms like 'waitress' in favour of the broader 'wait-staff' were also helping to reduce instances of sexual harassment.
New Zealand lawyers have also been working to improve the culture of sexual harassment present in the legal profession, after reports of abuse by lawyers at firm Russell McVeagh prompted an independent review and a call for all government contracts to be suspended.
