Reframing gender-based violence as a workplace, WHS, and cultural responsibility
A Tale of Two Students
Two students, Amira and Liam, arrive at the same university in the same week.
Both are bright, driven, and excited to start their academic journey. But their experiences diverge almost immediately — not because of their effort, but because of the systems they encounter.
Amira, a young woman of colour and first in her family to attend university, struggles to find culturally safe support. When she reports repeated harassment in her college accommodation, she’s met with bureaucratic language, delays, and staff unsure of their responsibilities.
Liam, a confident, white, domestic student from a well-networked background, navigates systems that feel built for him. He knows who to talk to, finds rapid support from student services, and his complaint about a separate issue is resolved swiftly.
Both are in the same institution. Both are part of the same “community.” Yet the outcomes are starkly different.
This is not about individuals. It’s about systems — who they were built for, who they inadvertently privilege, and who they marginalise.
Understanding GBV as a Systems Issue
Gender-based violence (GBV) does not happen in a vacuum. It is shaped and sustained by social structures, institutional norms, and power hierarchies. In universities and workplaces, GBV is often treated as a series of “individual incidents” — something for HR, legal, or student services to “handle.”
But in reality, GBV is:
- A Work Health and Safety (WHS) issue — psychosocial hazards like sexual harassment must be controlled like any other workplace risk under Australian law.
- A governance and compliance issue — with obligations under WHS, anti-discrimination, and the forthcoming National Code.
- A cultural issue — where power, privilege, and norms shape how people experience safety, support, and justice.
- A systems issue — because prevention and response depend on how institutional structures are designed.
Privilege and Marginalisation in Practice
1. Who Feels Safe to Speak Up
Consider reporting pathways. Students from privileged backgrounds often feel confident navigating bureaucracies and asserting their rights. Meanwhile, international students, LGBTQ+ students, students with disability, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities face barriers — language, fear of visa implications, distrust in institutions, or past trauma with authorities.
The result? Underreporting from marginalised groups, leading to systemic blind spots.
2. Whose Experience Is Centred
Policies are often written from a dominant cultural lens. For example, mandatory reporting frameworks may unintentionally strip agency from survivors who fear institutional retaliation. Reporting forms in English-only, with complex legal terminology, can alienate students whose first language isn’t English.
These systemic design choices privilege some groups while marginalising others — often unintentionally, but with real consequences.
3. Who Holds Power
GBV thrives where power is unequally distributed and unchecked. In universities, this might look like senior academics supervising international students, or student leaders wielding social influence in residential settings.
Systems that fail to account for these power dynamics can inadvertently protect perpetrators and silence victims.
Practical Examples: Systems Change in Action
Several Australian universities have started tackling GBV as a systems issue:
- University A introduced anonymous reporting, multilingual materials, and peer advocates to make reporting safer for international students.
- University B integrated GBV risk into its WHS register, shifting it from “HR problem” to “board-level governance issue.”
- University C created cultural safety advisory groups that review GBV prevention initiatives for blind spots.
These are systemic shifts — not just program tweaks.
Key Takeaways for HR & University Leaders
- GBV prevention is not just about individuals — it’s about systems that produce unequal experiences of safety and justice.
- Understanding privilege and marginalisation is critical to designing fair, trauma-informed policies.
- Reframing GBV as a WHS, governance, and cultural issue brings it into the heart of organisational strategy.
- Systemic change requires leadership, community engagement, and ongoing evaluation.
