Facebook chief fears male backlash on harassment

Sheryl Sandberg reveals her experiences of unwanted attention as she worries hiring of women may suffer

THE chief operating officer of Facebook, has warned of a potential backlash against women in the workplace following recent high-profile sexual harassment scandals. Sheryl Sandberg, one of the most powerful businesswomen in the world, said she had already heard “rumblings” that male leaders of companies may be increasingly reluctant to hire female employees because they feared their firms becoming involved in disputes.

Ms Sandberg urged companies to put policies in place on how to handle allegations. Writing on Facebook, she said: “I have already heard the rumblings of a backlash: ‘This is why you shouldn’t hire women.’ Actually, this is why you should.” She added: “The percentage of men who will be afraid to be alone with a female colleague has to be sky high right now.

“So much good is happening to fix workplaces right now. Let’s make sure it does not have the unintended consequence of holding women back.”

Outlining her own experiences Ms Sandberg, 48, said she had suffered sexual harassment in the past, and continued to do so despite the power she now wields. On one occasion, early in her career, a man at a conference came to her hotel room late at night and banged on her door until she had to call security. She said: “Like almost every woman – and some men – I know, I have experienced sexual harassment in the form of unwanted sexual advances in the course of doing my job.

“A hand on my leg under the table at a meeting. Married men – all decades older than I – offering ‘career advice’ and then suggesting that they could share it with me alone late at night.”

She made clear that none of the harassment was by men she had worked for, and all of her male bosses during her career had been “not just respectful, but deeply supportive”. But in each case the harasser had more “power” than her.

She said: “That’s not a coincidence. It’s why they felt free to cross that line.

“As I’ve become more senior, and gained more power, these moments have occurred less and less frequently. But they still happen every so often.”

Ms Sandberg said the current movement against sexual harassment was a “watershed moment” and an “opportunity that must not be lost”.