‘Absolutely confronting’: the sickening stories of sexual harassment of women in mining

Astacia Stevens wanted to drive a haul truck - the giant yellow vehicles that bring ore from the mines - for Rio Tinto, the equally vast company that controls swathes of the iron-rich Pilbara.

But, she told a West Australian parliamentary inquiry, her attempts to move from working for a contractor for Rio to working directly for it and wearing the company logo on her shirt were met with a demand from a superior she have sex with him.

The supervisor, who the inquiry gave the code name "A", "took me off the trucks and took me up to the site lookout in his supervisor vehicle", Stevens, who now works in an administrative position at Rio, said in a written submission to the parliament.

"The lookout is secluded and requires a site pass to access, which A held. At the lookout, whilst in the vehicle, he unzipped his pants and leaned back in his seat.

"He was not wearing any underwear and said to me 'if you want your shirt, you have to get on your knees first'."

She refused, did not get transferred to Rio, and was victimised and fired, she told the inquiry, which is investigating the sexual harassment of women on fly-in-fly-out mine sites.

In a report Rio released this week, the company revealed that women who work for it reported 21 incidents of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults over the past five years.