#MeToo litigation moves beyond celebrities.
The article appeared in the Business Section of the New York Times. A curious location as the details paralleled other articles that had appeared on the front page. More curious still since the article in question may be of even greater significance than those given the status of A1.
The article concerned Gina Pitre, a low-wage Walmart employee, who filed a sexual harassment suit against the company and her manager. With its publication and the help of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, the profile of sexual harassment moved out from the VIP world of Hollywood and the media and into the world where most of us reside….and where most sexual harassment takes place.
The move couldn’t have come soon enough.
Almost 80 percent of women in the U.S (and about one-third of men) have experienced verbal sexual harassment. Just over half of women have been groped and more than a quarter have experienced sexual assault.
Know what this means in the real world? Walk down a busy sidewalk. Look at the people left and right, and you’ll be looking at least one person who has had an unwanted sexual encounter.
Just because your friends don’t talk about it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened to them.
Only 10 percent of women who experience harassment file an official report. Only one percent confront the person. More than half try to avoid the situation altogether.
The situation in the workplace is similar. Three-quarters of nonmanager employees don’t bother to report sexual harassment. Many because they fear retaliation. Some because they just brush it off. And some because they take care of the situation themselves. The most common strategy is to avoid the harasser altogether.
Of course, avoidance alone is not likely to change the behavior of a harasser. And when harassment takes place at work, avoidance may not even be possible.
In a move that suggests progress, many employers have instated policies to prevent sexual harassment, and many are taking action to address it when it occurs.
The policies are aimed at changing behavior in the workplace, and this is a start.
But changes in behavior do not necessarily bring about changes of the heart and mind. They don’t automatically change how we perceive one another. As subjects, not sexualized objects. As fully human, not animals. As sentient individuals, not cardboard characters to be used, manipulated, or taunted as desired.
Can changes in behavior lead to changes of heart and mind? Let’s hope so.
It says a lot about our society that, had celebrities not come forward, this would not be on the front pages and nothing would change for people like this Walmart employee. This happens every day in every workplace envrironment. Keep posting these important articles.
It seems that in some ways for some men behavior hasn’t changed much since our cave dwelling days.