There were no sanitary bins at any point in time when I was based on site as a tradie, and it was just something that you wouldn’t even suggest or bring up in conversation, at all.
When I first started on site, I got the very real and quite intense experience of, “they don’t want me here, and they’re going to make it as uncomfortable as possible and they’re going to see what it is that makes me break.” I’ve been that person that has been locked in Portaloos repeatedly, pushed over in them, that happened quite a bit. At one point, they used my lunchbox as a toilet and thought that was hilarious, they would vandalise my tools, all the verbal stuff, the things they’d say, it was just relentless.
By no means am I the resilient person who can take all that stuff. I would go home and cry and just think, “how can anyone think this is okay?” I didn’t feel safe, there was always anxiety and layers upon layers of things I had to think about before I even did something.
This culminated in a particularly hard day trying to navigate using the bathroom on site. There was no female bathroom on site, so quite often I would not go – I would dehydrate myself, I would eat and drink very little so I wouldn’t need to use the bathroom. But when I did have to go, I would have to announce myself. On this day, a group of men followed me into the cubicles, made threats and humiliated me for 40 minutes. I just broke down and thought, “I can’t do this anymore.” Then the site manager stepped in and saved me. He was the first man on site who actually listened – he said, “This is not okay, and those guys aren’t going to be here anymore. I’m so sorry this is happening, I didn’t know and I should’ve known. Let’s fix this.” That simple act of support changed everything.
That was the first instance where things changed, including getting a sanitary bin, but throughout my career, there was always the same type of mindset of, “you don’t belong here, you’re not good enough, why do you need special treatment?” It’s not special treatment, it’s the same – just because we need different things, doesn’t mean it’s a special treatment. All of those things have continued for 30 years. Yes, some things have changed for the better, yes, we’re able to have more open conversations about the challenges women face, but they have certainly not disappeared, they’re not gone.
– Jo Farrell
