Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner is calling for urgent changes in the mining industry after a state government report found cases of “horrifying” and “appalling” behavior against women, Reuters reported on Friday.
The investigation by Western Australia, home to most of the country’s iron ore sector, was prompted by concerns about a culture of sexism and bullying in the industry, and criticized BHP (NYSE:BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) for ignoring or overlooking unlawful behavior.
Examples cited in the report included stalking, texting of lewd material, requests for sexual favors in return for a permanent job and sexual assaults.
Women have long complained of sexual harassment in “fly in, fly out” mining camps set up at remote mines to house workers.
The Australian federal government said it will look at whether issues raised in the report could be tackled at a national level.
Rio Tinto (RIO) published its own report in February which found that nearly 30% of women had experienced sexual harassment at work.
