How we can end sexual harassment
How will we know we’re nearing a tipping point on ending sexual harassment?
When the stories in the news are not just about actresses and wealthy, highprofile women, but about the men who harass women who serve our food, pick our crops, clean our offices, staff the call centers and make things run in our homes.
Why aren’t we reading those stories now? Because these are the women society fails to see, especially when their skin is dark. The problem isn’t that these women are voiceless — it’s that their voices are not the ones that decision-makers and opinion leaders listen to. Women in these jobs also face huge barriers to taking the kind of action needed.
In all the media attention given to high-profile sexual harassment cases, here are a few points you likely don’t know:
Many employees have nowhere to turn if they experience unwanted sexual behavior at work. No law requires a company to have a sexual harassment policy or channels to report a problem. If the company is found liable for sexual misconduct, the fact that it did nothing to prevent it may count against it — but the employer is not subject to any penalty otherwise.
Employees who do take action often pay a high price. A 2003 study found that 75% of those who spoke out about mistreatment on the job experienced retaliation. When you’re struggling to put food on the table and the boss can not only kick you off this job but hurt your chances of getting another one, enduring harassment is an unwritten requirement of the job.
Let’s say you overcome all these obstacles and do come forward, only to have the company dismiss your complaint. In many cases, no one will inform you of your right to file with a government agency if you disagree with the outcome. Hopefully, a women’s rights group or legal services group will direct you to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But here’s the rub: Its staff is shrinking, not growing. The EEOC’s workforce is set for a 10% cut to 2,000 employees — significantly smaller than it was in 2001 when it had 2,900 employees. If you do file with the agency, your average wait time is nearly 10 months (295 days) — up from six months (182 days) in 2001.
More than half of private sector, non-union employees are subject to mandatory arbitration. That means to get hired, you agree to sign a piece of paper waiving your rights to sue your employer and taking any complaint to an arbitrator — often one the company selects. Even if the arbitrator is fair, the process — including non-disclosure agreements in the case of settlements — keeps the company from identifying the extent of the problem and from taking action to correct it. It also keeps employees from hearing about it, finding each other and coming forward as a group.
We can’t begin to talk about a tipping point until we tackle these and other systemic problems. That includes seeing the roots of sexual harassment in the centuries-long degradation of women, in racism and the ugly history of the legal rape of Black women, in homophobia that hates gay men for being too much like women and hates lesbians for not needing a man and denigrates anyone who doesn’t fit a gender binary. Solving sexual harassment requires action against the bigger problem of discrimination. Start by ensuring equal pay, an end to sub-minimum tipped wages and the right to collective bargaining.
Here are other crucial steps: Lawmakers: Get rid of mandatory arbitration and severely limit the use of nondisclosure agreements in settlements. Adequately fund the EEOC and state equal rights agencies. Require employers to have a policy, to make it known and to accompany it with training. Begin with fixing the archaic procedures within Congress itself.
Employers: Make sure the company has multiple channels for reporting a problem, including an outside, impartial source. Arrange for meaningful training by a trusted outside group (knowing that HR will be seen as work-
ing for the employer).
Conduct an annual anonymous survey to see whether employees feel they are subject to unwanted sexual behaviors — be specific about what kind, from co-workers or supervisors, whether they feel they can come forward, and if not, why not.
Hold managers accountable for what happens in their departments — offer training and support but also make clear that their evaluation will include how they handle discrimination complaints.
Applaud rather than punish those who come forward. At the same time, preserve due process and make sure the discipline is proportionate to the offense. Don’t fire an entry-level worker for telling an off-color joke, and don’t protect the CEO because he’s a rainmaker.
Philanthropists: Direct resources to groups representing low-wage workers. Organizing led by those most frequently targeted is the best way to encourage change and the only way to ensure that it is systemic and long-lasting.
How to end sexual harassment isn’t a mystery. It’s a matter of power and political will.
Ellen Bravo is co-director of Family Values@Work and the former director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women. She co-authored “The 9to5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment” and has also written “Again and Again,” a novel about date rape and politics.