Resources on sex discrimination

“Skye Saunders has opened a lens on an aspect of our Australian community that has received too little attention up until now. Whispers from the Bush is carefully researched and wonderfully written. It is a clarion call to us all to listen with compassion and without judgment, to play our part in making Australia a better place for all.”

“What is to be done about sexual harassment in the Australian bush? Saunders’ answers to this question can inform policies in other countries, such as Canada and the United States…Her contribution is timely, much-needed, and policy relevant. It will also speak to readers on many levels, as it did to me.”

“This book fills a gap in the existing body of knowledge around sexual harassment. It illustrates how dimensions of gendered harms can be better understood through applying a geographical and cultural lens. Were it not for this study, the low levels of reporting and few adjudicated cases could be interpreted to mean that sexual harassment was experienced similarly by both rural and city women. Yet it is starkly clear there is a long way to go to give rural women the safe working environments they are legally entitled to. This book has left me with a deepened understanding of the complex and powerful dynamics rural women negotiate, and a profound appreciation of the courage required to turn a whisper into a shout.”

“I welcome this book. When Dr. Saunders told me about it, my first thoughts were: at last. May ‘Whispers From The Bush’ break the silence of rural women. May it empower and strengthen them to speak out and no longer put up with mistreatment. May it contribute to solidarity among our sisters in dusty, remote places. All of us who live or lived in these places – and have parts of our heart remaining there even when we have moved on – owe Dr Saunders a debt of gratitude.”

“Whispers from the Bush.. should be mandatory reading for male (and female) employers. It provides a great list of practical recommendations for addressing and reducing the serious harms caused by sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, and particularly in rural workplaces.”

“Skye Saunders’ pioneering research publication speaks volumes about the extent of the ‘cultural epidemic’ of sexual harassment in rural Australian workplaces… Saunders’ triumph is her ability to siphon through the information and bring the most salient points to the reader’s attention in a thought-provoking way. It is a credit to the author that a topic so often drenched in statistics preserves the personality and experiences of those who contributed to it. At times the book is hard to put down, at other times the weight of personal stories can make it hard to read at all.”