Sexual harassment an ‘open secret’ in Victoria’s legal profession, report finds

Sexual harassment in Victoria’s legal profession is an ‘”open secret” and the silence surrounding the behaviour is perpetuated by power inequalities in the court setting, a new report has found.

The review was commissioned in the wake of sexual harassment allegations made against now-retired High Court judge Dyson Heydon and initiated by former Victorian attorney-general Jill Hennessy and Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Ferguson.

“Many women and some men told their stories of the ‘open secret’ of…