A Sydney bar manager who pressed charges against a male patron who smacked her on the bottom has inspired other women to share their stories of workplace assaults.
Annabel Bassil's stand against harassment in the hospitality sector has resonated with readers across the country.
Ms Bassil said she had received an "amazing" response after going public exclusively with the ABC yesterday.
She was working at a pub in Sydney's south last August when the assault occurred.
She said she was left shaken, in tears and feeling "violated" by the incident, which was caught on CCTV.
The man was thrown out of the bar, the police were called, and the next day, Ms Bassil made a formal police complaint.
A 41-year-old south Sydney man pleaded guilty to a common assault charge.
The story has prompted women around the country to share their own stories.
"It happened to me when I was a waitress at about 20 years old. It just felt so gross to be violated like that," one woman posted on Facebook.
Another, named Barbara Smith, wrote: "A man did that to me many years ago when I was walking through a bar. I was very offended."
Meanwhile, Alimike Smith posted: "This happened to me many times over the years and it is really awful."
"It makes you scared to walk past men."
A 2018 survey by Australian Human Rights Commission found that up to 39 per cent of women face sexual harassment in the workplace.
But Associate Professor Kate Huppatz, from Western Sydney University, said the numbers were even more dire in hospitality, where up to 89 per cent of women reported sexual harassment in the past five years.
"It's not surprising, and unfortunately it is a common experience, and hugely problematic," she said.
"I think in this particular case, what has been highlighted is how there's a problem within the industry and how the industry approaches women, the relationship between customers and workers, and problems of customer culture and the wider gender order."
Associate Professor Huppatz, who specialises in gender and social class, said the attitudes towards women in the workplace and common assault had shifted in Australia.
"There's pros and cons about the #MeToo movement, and it certainly had an influence on change, there was also the 2017 women marches," she said.
"These movements were mobilised by social media, and have really shifted things, and shone a light on sexual assault and rape that occurs in workplaces."
