Some people have much to learn about the true nature of sexual harassment
I was shocked and outraged by the two letters and Point of View published in the Scotsman (November 6) about the issue of sexual harassment – all, I note, written by men.
My daughter, then aged 20 and in her first job, was coerced into sexual acts (yes, she was raped) by her employer. Inexperienced, out of her depth, fearful of losing her job and unable to work out how to extricate herself from the situation without offending him, she did as he told her.
She reported what had happened to the police, and will regret that decision for the rest of her life. She was subjected to intimidating, humiliating and embarrassing questioning about what she had and had not done. He has never been required to answer a single question.
The fact that the man is more than twice her age and was in a position of power over her was, she was told, not relevant to the issue of whether she had consented or to whether he could have had a reasonable belief that she consented, despite the fact that the legal definition of consent is “free agreement”.
Evidence of serious sexual harassment of other young women by the same man did not constitute a “pattern of behaviour”.
My daughter suffered a breakdown and, with my full support, with drew her cooperation with the criminal investigation. That is what happens when an adult victim of sexual assault by someone in a position of power “notifies the authorities”.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
Correspondence shows problems
The response from some male correspondents exemplifies the problems that women are up against in their efforts to speak up about, and to seek redress for, sexual harassment (Letters, 6 November).
Ian Johnstone questions why “adult victims” failed to notify the authorities when they were subjected to a sexual assault. This common response from men and, sadly, some women, shows how oblivious they are to the constraining effects on women who are put in this position.
These range from fear of being disbelieved, unwillingness to ‘damage’ the reputation of their powerful employer, questioning what they may unwittingly have done to ‘encourage’ the behaviour, and a wish to forget that it happened. An unwarranted sense of shame silences them.
R. Alder equates consensual touching between a couple with the unwelcome groping of a woman by a man who abuses his position of power. There is no comparison, and any attempt to blur the distinction between these totally different scenarios serves to perpetuate the abuse and to silence women.
Rev dr john cameron should know that unsolicited sexual contact is wrong and always has been wrong, regardless of the sexual mores of any given society. What has changed is that women are at long last beginning to speak up about their experiences.
The term ‘snowflake’, quoted by Dr Cameron, is widely used in some tabloids to express contempt for young people who are now acting more responsibly than their elders: no alcohol binge drinking or jumping into bed with people they barely know.
Steve Bannon applied the term to anyone who objected to Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, including journalists.