Some talk, little actionĪnd maybe in some ways, we are stuck in the 1990s. Had it not been for the date-stamped recent headlines (especially this week regarding Harvey Weinstein) it would be easy to believe that it was still 1991. But there she was on October 17th, 2017, speaking once again on camera about the same inequality and abuse of power by men and corporations alike. That historical call for action propelled, however slowly, changes in how men conducted themselves with women in the workplace, or at least that is what we had hoped for.įast-forward to today and millennials may have never known the face of Anita Hill, the way my peers and I did from watching her televised court appearances so long ago. The details she shared about the gross misconduct and abuse that she experienced at work was widely challenged and would forever change her life and career ( this story is captured in the 2016 film Confirmation starring Kerry Washington as Anita Hill). Attorney Anita Hill became an iconic spokeswoman when she bravely came forward with a highly publicized claim against Clarence Thomas, who had been nominated to become a Judge of the United States Supreme Court. One of the more memorable cases that fueled widespread dialogue on workplace sexual harassment was over 25 years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same Values are also relevant within the context of willful silence when it comes to ignoring sexual harassment and/or sexual assault in professional settings. In that article, I propose that rather than explicitly talking about ‘taboo’ subjects like religion and politics, frame discussions around values which may include the concepts of inclusion, tolerance, and respect. I touched on this very subject in a blog article about values. As a woman with a specialization in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and many years of experience dealing with various HR issues, I recognize that sexual harassment and other abusive behaviours in the workplace are all too common, yet the silence can be deafening.Īs with other loaded topics, like politics and religion, many people in the workplace prefer to say nothing despite the undeniably tense and divisive climate that many victims of harassment/bullying, or minorities/immigrants are experiencing. Like many of you, I found last week’s news regarding Hollywood’s long-standing cover-up of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein deeply troubling. These issues affect us (and/or our co-workers) personally and they do not exist in a vacuum since the consequences often spill over into the places where we work. I’m broaching this difficult subject just as I did recently when discussing the implications of domestic violence at work in a previous blog post. Picture: Christian Alminana/Getty Images Source: Getty Images Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
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