Put your money on women v Weinstein
WATCH out: the women are organising. Following the Weinstein scandal last October, numerous Hollywood leading ladies have clubbed together to fund the Time’s Up campaign.
It’s a fund to help women fight for what’s right, and fight against the tooled-up lawyers defending Holyrood’s elite men from their outdated actions.
Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon between them alone have donated $1.5million.
Stars from the world of showbiz demonstrated their solidarity with the campaign by wearing black at this week’s Bafta awards.
Emma Watson has now launched a UK version called the justice and equality fund, bank rolling it herself with £1million.
When it comes to tackling sexual harassment, she means business. It’s a hugely impressive move in the finest traditions of the Suffragettes’ motto “Deeds not words”.
The Hollywood scandal rippled out across industries, sectors and workplaces. For a while, it felt like nowhere was immune.
Not even Holyrood, where it has claimed the political career of SNP minister Mark McDonald.
He’s not been seen in Holyrood for over 100 days, pocketing his MSP salary for all that time along with a reported £7000 resettlement grant.
This has led the Tories to demand Nicola Sturgeon “back him or sack him” before the investigations are complete, which strikes me as a little unfair because he – and more importantly the complainants who have made allegations – still deserve a fair and due process.
And let’s talk about the women. Imagine the strength it takes to put your hand up in these situations to know that it will be almost impossible to stay anonymous. That all your colleagues will look and judge and think twice as hard about what they say or do in your company.
Because no matter how serious the allegations are – you clyped.
That’s why so many incidences go unreported and so many investigations collapse.
We need a system to tackle sexual harassment that’s fair, delivers results and doesn’t just make lawyers rich and our workplaces poorer as a consequence of long, traumatic, drawn-out processes.
So here’s an idea – how about we have a trigger system of anonymised reporting? It could be for everyday racism, homophobia or sectarianism, but let’s stick with sexism for now.
If a woman experiences sexual harassment at the hands of Man X, she should have two options: 1) Report it in her own name knowing what that will lead to. This should remain the preferred option but will only work if support services are properly funded and polices are communicated clearly and well.
Or: 2) She can report the actions of Man X anonymously, knowing that if – for example – another four reports against the same man are made, the employer has a duty to investigate him. This way, the system ensures no woman is singled out at one time.
There’s literal safety in numbers and a much higher chance of swift justice being served for both the victim and the accused.
It’s an idea I believe worthy of consideration as we strive to ensure the words “time’s up” have a lasting impact.