Year of women — for good and bad
One of the biggest news stories this year revealed once again the treatment women meet.
Dozens, led by top actresses such as Ashley Judd, accused the once mighty Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rampant sexual misconduct. He has denied the allegations.
Then an avalanche of accounts of women having experienced such behavior during their lives, in different countries, poured into Western social media under the #MeToo hashtag.
Many of my female friends, whether in Asia or elsewhere, bravely added themselves to the list.
I fear some couldn’t do so because they aren’t ready yet. And in my opinion that’s OK.
It took 20 years for an inci- dent, which Judd accused Weinstein of, to become public.
But what is important is that some women are speaking out now, encouraged perhaps by the realization that keeping quiet will not help others who may come in harm’s way.
Sexual assault and violence draw quick legal attention in many countries, but harassment and intimidation often get overlooked as they are more likely to be considered ethical breaches, topics that are seldom discussed (in hushed tones) beyond the workplace — even though, according to UN Women, some 144 countries have laws on sexual harassment.
In the minds of many, a predator probably resembles a movie villain with a facial scar, not the creative minds behind good work in entertainment, academia, media and other fields.
Sexual harassment is endemic to sectors and social groups, and practically no country can claim to be free of it, with variations only in degree.
The onus of bringing misconduct to light almost always falls on the victim, as if society bears no responsibility.
That is how the culture of silence thrives, typically emboldening serial offenders, not just in deeply patriarchal societies but everywhere.
In the absence of institutional mechanisms, vulnerable groups such as young employees and unpaid interns, for instance, find it tough to confront the sexual harassment they face.
Plus, such incidents tend to be wrongly associated with a sense of shame or guilt by the victim, especially when she is very young, according to sociologists.
A colleague who grew up in East China told me she didn’t feel any gender discrimination in college where “academic resources were open” to both women and men, and the system was merit-based; but one time when she applied for a job years ago, she was told by the hiring manager that despite being competent she wouldn’t get the position owing to her gender.
Regardless, she built her career.
She said younger women need to be seen as strong.
Last year, a senior manager at a Chinese bank in Beijing was suspended over harassment after a contract employee posted his objectionable messages to her to Chinese app WeChat.
A UN agency found less than 4 percent female CEOs in the world’s largest 500 corporations in 2015.
The global population is estimated to be around 7 billion. In 2016, there were some 62 million more men than women.
Meanwhile, “feminism” is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year.