With the amount of news coverage the #MeToo movement garnered, you might be forgiven for thinking that finally, sexual harassment of women in the workplace was set to become a thing of the past. Something that people looked back on as of another time when people were less enlightened.
Unfortunately, you would be wrong. According to a recent report, very little progress has been made in the past five years. In other words, for all the good the #MeToo movement (which started in 2017) did, workplace sexual harassment is as rife as ever.
Why are women still having to deal with this?
One factor the report noted that may explain why so little progress has been made is that many companies “have retreated from diversity in the face of conservative criticism.”
It’s not just companies. Just think about how rights that people fought so hard for, such as gay marriage and the right to abortion have all come under threat in the past few years. Clearly, some people feel that women and certain other groups have become too empowered or strayed too far from “their place.”
Remember sexual harassment is about power
The sexual harassment of women by men is a power play. It’s not about lust. It’s about showing a woman that they, the man have the power to carry out certain actions without fear of reprisal. It’s about ‘encouraging’ a woman to remember “her place.” When you understand that, it is perhaps no surprise to see that it is still so prevalent in the light of the general eroding of rights we are seeing.
Regardless of what some people think, sexual harassment in the workplace remains illegal and employers have a responsibility to protect their employees from it. Understanding your legal options could be crucial if someone is harassing you.