On October 5th, three decades of alleged sexual harassment at the hands of Harvey Weinstein came to light from a New York Times expose. Media reports have highlighted the sad reality in which many knew, or heard whisperings and chose to do nothing creating a culture of complicity and environment where this behaviour thrived. While this story centres on the Hollywood elite, most women have or had a Harvey Weinstein in their life; an older man with power who uses that power to make them uncomfortable. An Angus Reid survey found that 43 per cent of women say they’ve been sexually harassed at work.
Women encounter sexual harassment in every field, in every industry and in every corner of the world.
Sexual harassment is about power, control and intimidation. Women are trained to laugh off harassment: ‘ignore it, be nice, don’t be a bitch’ because if they don’t, they face a potentially volatile situation. Women are told to ignore sexual harassment if it’s from a creep, but if it’s from a ‘nice guy’ that changes everything. Nice guys don’t sexually harass women, nice guys don’t catcall, nice guys are just giving a compliment. Except when the ‘nice guy’ becomes the creep because he feels entitled to invade women’s personal space.
Why don’t women say something sooner when they’re being harassed by a colleague, a boss, a ‘friend’ or a stranger? When women decide that they’ve had enough and simply want to go through their lives feeling safe and secure, they are not believed. When women report harassment, they are told it was a joke, to brush it off or face retaliation for having the courage to speak up. Research from Dr. Heather McLaughlin, found that sexual harassment across industries is so ingrained that survivors can feel it’s easier to quit their jobs than try and change workplace culture. Dr. McLaughlin found that 80 per cent of women who experienced severe sexual harassment changed jobs within two years and this leave can derail their long-term career opportunities.
Women face a myriad of negative impacts when they report sexual harassment in the workplace. Instead of being shocked that harassment happens, let’s take steps to ensure that cases of sexual harassment don’t go ignored. Let’s listen to women when they speak up and let’s create an environment where everyone has the right to feel safe and feel respected. Women don’t have the luxury to ignore harassment any longer, and nor should you.
