Annabel Bassil was working as a bar manager in Sutherland Shire when a customer, 41-year-old married man, slapped her bottom last August. She had no previous interactions with that man. The incident left her shaken and felt violated reported ABC News.
The man was kicked out of the bar and Annabel lodge a police report on the incident. After about a year, the man pleaded guilty in court to a charge of common assault.
Image source via ABC News
It has been a difficult time, but it was the right thing to do for women across the hospitality industry. Annabel told ABC News that she is working with so many girls and had to lead them by example.
Her story has inspired other women around the country to share their stories of workplace assaults reported ABC News.
“One in three workers in Australia said that they had been sexually harassed at work over the last five years, compared with one in five from our 2012 survey and one in ten in 2003,” said Kate Jenkins, Sex Discrimination Commissioner at National Press Club
Magistrate Michael Antrum granted a section 10 dismissal which meant that the man was found guilty but there was no conviction or sentence.
Image source via Giphy.com/Rewire.org
"From the way that he behaved in court, I could tell that he knew he was in the wrong and for me that was enough,” said Annabel via ABC News.
Cover photo via ABC News
