CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses sexual misconduct, abuse, harassment, and assault in the workplace.
Australia’s mining industry has long been criticised for its negative impact on the planet, however one TikToker is using her platform to call out another dangerous aspect of the industry: the toxic treatment of women.
Almost 300K Aussies are employed by the mining industry and work as fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers at sites across Australia, and though efforts are being made to get more women working in the field, it remains a heavily male-dominated industry.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that women make up only 21 per cent of the workforce. And so as the minority of workers, there is unfortunately a strong culture of mistreatment toward female mining workers that has gone unaddressed… until now.
Influencer and mining worker Sienna Mallon has spoken out on TikTok to her 175K followers about one of the things in the mining industry that upsets her the most.
In a video on her page, the influencer called out women in the mining industry who tell other women they need to be able to cop abuse from male coworkers, or else they should just quit.
“I am absolutely certain there will be some of these women watching my video, and I’m speaking directly to you right now. It is actually a filthy thing to say,” Mallon said in the video.
“Now I have always worked in a male-populated industry, so I’ve seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and I am all for a joke…
“But I will never, ever, ever intentionally or purposely say something that is genuinely offensive or just derogatory to women.”
She then explained how she sees other women get “institutionalised” by men in the industry, who instead of speaking out against the men who treat women poorly, then perpetuate and promote the sexist culture.
“Like imagine if that was doctors. Imagine if we said, anyone that wants to be a doctor has to literally be bullied and harassed,” the influencer elaborated.
“Now, I know bullying and harassment happens in every single industry. I’m not naive to that. I’m just saying that this is the only industry that I’ve seen where women will actively get online and say, ‘You need to be able to put up with this. And you need to like it, not just put up with it. You have to get on board and join these men in bullying yourself and other women.'”
Mallon finished the video by directly addressing the female creators who contributed to this culture of mistreatment.
“So if you’re a FIFO or a mining industry creator, and you post a video about that, I will seriously block you when I see it, you’re actually a grub,” she said.
“And I really hope that you learn that you are contributing to women having a horrific time on site.”
@siennamallonn Influencers I cannot stand. #mining #miningtok #fifo #influencers #girls #girlsgirl ♬ original sound – SIENNA MALLON
Her message seemed to be widely appreciated by folks online, who thanked the mining influencer for being brave enough to speak up.
“Literally! I get told to smile, it’s not the worst thing that gets said but it irks me the most. Myself and another female apprentice feel the same about it, it’s amazing having someone who gets it,” one person commented.
Another follower shared that it was this very reason they lasted less than a year in the industry.
In a follow-up video, Mallon addressed another misconception she’s observed in the mining industry’s behaviour towards female workers: the false notion they want “special treatment”.
“One thing I’ve never, ever heard said to me from any girl in this industry — or in any industry like this — is that they want special treatment,” she said.
“What I want, and what every other woman in this industry that I know wants, is they want to be able to go to work and have the same level of hard that men have.”
@siennamallonn Replying to @erin ✨ Please find me the women who are asking for special treatment. #miningindustry #miner #fifo #mining #specialtreatment #respect ♬ original sound – SIENNA MALLON
Mallon then clarified she and other women in the industry understand the difficulty of the work, and they aren’t asking for it to be made easier.
The only thing they’re “asking” for is not to be scared of the men they work with.
“We’re not scared of hard work. We’re scared of being treated differently. We’re scared of not feeling safe to go to a bathroom on night shift. We’re scared of not feeling safe to go to bed because we’re all alone and we don’t have people around us that we feel safe,” she said.
“This is something that I don’t know many men who have ever considered when they’ve taken a mining job, but I know every single woman that I’ve ever met have considered this one detail.”
[Image: Sienna Mallon/TikTok/Instagram]
Help is available.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- If you have experienced or witnessed workplace sexual harassment, support is available: 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
The post Mining Influencer Sienna Mallon Exposes How Sexist Behaviour Is Perpetuated In The Industry appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
