The stories shared by silence breakers have made it impossible to deny how prevalent sexual misconduct is, and how much damage it can do. Photo / Getty Images
The stories shared by silence breakers have made it impossible to deny how prevalent sexual misconduct is, and how much damage it can do. Photo / Getty Images
The past few months have seen a deluge of stories revealing that sexual harassment takes place everywhere, from Hollywood hotel rooms to factory floors. The stories shared by silence breakers have made it impossible to deny how prevalent sexual misconduct is, and how much damage it can do.
While the reckoning must continue, it's time to move the conversation forward. We need to start talking about the changes that will make sure fewer people are victimized in the future; that fewer employers will feel comfortable covering up for high-profile offenders; and that perpetrators will face swifter and more serious consequences.
We asked 16 leaders what one change they would implement to stop sexual harassment in their fields, and their answers have lessons for all of us. But these suggestions are just a starting point: We want to know what you think would be most effective at stopping sexual harassment.
IN THE AIR: Renounce a sexist past
Flight Attendants are ongoing victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Photo / Getty Images
Flight Attendants, about 80 percent women, are ongoing victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Not that long ago, the industry marketed the objectification of "stewardesses," a job only available to young, single, perfectly polished women who until 1993 were required to step on a weight scale. Our union was formed to give women a voice and to beat back discrimination and misogyny faced on the job.
We defined our careers at the bargaining table, in the courts and on Capitol Hill. We taught the country to leave the word "stewardess" in the history books. But the industry never disavowed the marketing schemes featuring short skirts, hot pants and ads that had young women saying things like "I'm Cheryl, fly me."
Even today, we are called pet names, patted on the rear when a passenger wants our attention, cornered in the back galley and asked about our "hottest" layover, and subjected to incidents not fit for print. Like the rest of our society, flight attendants have never had reason to believe that reports of the sexual harassment we experience on the job would be taken seriously, rather than dismissed or retaliated against.
The most effective thing that could be done now is a series of public service announcements from airline chief executives. It would be powerful to hear these men clearly and forcefully denounce the past objectification of flight attendants, reinforce our safety role as aviation's first responders and pledge zero tolerance of sexual harassment and sexual assault at the airlines.
They need to back up their words with action: A survey of our members last year showed the majority of flight attendants have no knowledge of written guidance or training on this issue available through their airline. Increased staffing and clear policies are needed.
Credibility from the industry on this issue isn't only about keeping only flight attendants safe. It is absurd to think that a group of people frequently harassed for decades can effectively become enforcers during emergencies without this level of clarity about the respect we deserve. Knowing that CEOs will back us up will also make it easier for flight attendants to intervene when passengers are sexually harassed or assaulted on planes.
Flight attendants need to know the airlines will take this as seriously as any other safety duty we perform.
Sara Nelson is the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
AS A PARENT: Start teaching consent early
t it's so important to teach consent from a young age. Photo / Getty Images
I always want to smother my children with kisses and hugs. But it's so important to teach consent from a young age. I tell my kids that they're the boss of their bodies — it's a clear, age-appropriate phrase (every kid understands the concept of boss!) and it makes them feel empowered. If my son doesn't want to kiss Grandma, I'll say, "You're the boss of your body, it's up to you." If they're playing with a friend who doesn't want a hug, I'll tell them, "She's the boss of her body, and you need to stop." I hope that by understanding consent at a young age, children will find it second nature to respect others' bodies and minds throughout their lives.
Joanna Goddard blogs at A Cup of Jo.
AT PUBLIC COMPANIES: Require corporate reporting
Since October, when three decades of egregious sexual harassment by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein came to light, women have come forward in unprecedented numbers to expose sexual harassment and assault in their workplaces. Their graphic accounts have served as a powerful reminder that sexual harassment is not about sex. It is about abuse of power that doesn't end when the harassment does.
Instead, it continues when companies give male executives and star performers a pass for harassing women, and protect them by paying out confidential settlements, gagging the accusers and "managing" them out of their jobs. In publicly traded companies, at least, there's a good model for checking this behavior: Congress should apply the same standards for sexual misconduct that it does to violations of securities law.
After the Enron and WorldCom frauds devastated the retirement funds of numerous investors, Congress responded with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which has helped restore investor confidence through better corporate governance, stricter reporting and enhanced whistleblower protections for employees who report fraud. The law also requires corporate officers to sign certifications, under penalty of perjury, attesting to their companies' compliance with securities laws and maintenance of internal controls that work to identify violations.
Existing federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Congressional Accountability Act, must be amended to require companies to file similar disclosures of the number of sexual harassment claims settled, the amounts paid and the corrective actions taken in response. Legislators, too, should have to attest annually to their offices' compliance with sexual harassment laws and to disclose sexual harassment settlements (while shielding the identities of the victims). Changes like these could have uncovered the sexual harassment scandals at 21st Century Fox, which employed Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly, or the congressional practice of paying out confidential settlements with public money, much more quickly.
The current system permits settlements to go unreported and sexual harassment to be concealed. There is no accountability or transparency and therefore no deterrence — which is poor public policy. The challenges for women in the workplace will not end here, but these simple requirements could go a long way toward making clear whether a workplace is safe for women.
Debra S. Katz is a civil rights lawyer who specializes in the representation of employees in sexual harassment matters.
IN THE FIREHOUSE: Recognize the message sent by vulgar language
In our agency, you have to lead by example. Discipline is important. When those in positions of authority are crude in conversation, it fosters an environment that makes it easy for misconduct to happen. Vulgarity in language, even if inappropriate touching never happens, trickles down throughout the organization. If people in a position to lead and make decisions constantly curse and joke about sex while playing down complaints about harassment, it sends the message that harassment is not a problem — and that everyone else should feel the same way. Loose conversation promotes a negative culture throughout the chain of command. It's hard to change people's morals or values individually, but the agency can set the precedent that that kind of language is not acceptable — from the top down.
The issue isn't isolated to the men on our job. Women can be just as vulgar — in part, because they think that joining in coarse conversation is what it takes to be equal to men or to gain their respect. But there will always be a group of men who doubt women's ability, and that isn't the way to convince them. The way to gain respect is to know your job and perform it well consistently. Even if men don't want you around, nine times out of 10 they'll develop respect for you. Why? Because you're being true to yourself and because you're doing the work — maybe even better than they are. That's the way to get buy-in, not by trying to be cruder versions of men.
Kishia Clemencia is a captain with D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
ON WALL STREET: Mandate diversity targets
Sexual harassment thrives in male-dominated environments such as Wall Street. Diversity groups can help; inclusivity training can help; mentoring programs can help. But the ultimate solution to harassment is shifting the power dynamic between men and women in a company, and this is most effectively accomplished by increasing gender diversity at the top.
The real question is how to get there. The financial services industry has been settling sexual harassment cases for decades. Individual firms have spent years and tens of millions of court-mandated dollars to improve gender diversity — and both have failed completely. There are no female chief executives on Wall Street; traders are 90 percent men and financial advisers are 86 percent men.
Thus, the solution is for the companies' boards of directors to mandate diversity targets: not as afterthoughts but as key business goals, just like they do with revenue targets, new-client goals and expense initiatives. In addition, these boards should commit to reviewing, and sharing publicly, gender pay comparisons for each level of the organizations. Managers should be compensated or penalized on each of these objectives, because if it's not measured and it's not part of compensation on Wall Street, it simply doesn't happen.
Are these "quotas"? It seems we're allergic to the term. But is it really too much to ask that an industry that brought the economy to its knees, was bailed out by our government and yet continues to exclude most of the population from its plum jobs get with the program? If these companies become more inclusive of gender and other types of diversity, the research indicates that risk will be reduced and performance improved. And that is good for all of us.
Sallie Krawcheck is chief executive and co-founder of Ellevest, an investing and planning firm for women. She is former CEO of Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.
IN THE HOME: Protect workers in the gig economy
Imagine what is happening to workers who labor behind closed doors in homes around the country. Photo / Getty Images
With sexual harassment and assault revealed to be prevalent in public workplaces, imagine what is happening to workers who labor behind closed doors in homes around the country.
Domestic workers — those who care for our children as nannies, clean our homes and support the elderly to live at home as they age — are some of the most at-risk and invisible workers in the nation. Not only is their workplace the private home, but also they have faced a long history of exclusion from basic protections afforded workers in other industries. We need to rewrite our harassment and discrimination policies to include all working people, regardless of field or employment classification.
Some of our most progressive labor protections exclude domestic workers, by design or default. During the negotiations surrounding the New Deal, Southern members of Congress, in exchange for their support, insisted on the exclusion of farm workers and domestic workers from labor protections afforded others. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires a threshold number of employees for workers to be protected from discrimination and sexual harassment. Because they typically work in settings with only one employee, the vast majority of domestic workers are excluded.
We live in an age in which work itself is changing. As more people work as freelancers, independent contractors or in temporary, part-time settings, they are failed by our inadequate legal protections against discrimination and harassment. How many female Uber drivers have faced harassment from male passengers at night? How many housecleaners, the original gig workers, have been manhandled by the "man of the house"? "Non-traditional" work is becoming the norm, and more women are falling through the cracks of our written rules of conduct.
The rules of the new economy are being written at this very moment. We have a unique opportunity to write them in a way that ensures the future of work is safe for women — and while we're at it, to address pay equity and value women's work equally. Thanks to the courage of women from Anita Hill to Rose McGowan and all who have shared their #MeToo stories, we're having a real conversation about working while female. It's time to ensure that the future of work for all women is safe and dignified.
Ai-jen Poo is the executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and co-director of Caring Across Generations.
IN THE NEWSROOM: Women on the masthead
Put more women in charge.
This may sound self-serving coming from the first female executive editor of the New York Times. But having more newsrooms run by women would be a major stride in curbing sexual misconduct in news. I know from my experience leading several newsrooms that women are more likely to confide mistreatment to a female boss, and female bosses are unlikely to look the other way.
During my 40 years in journalism, I had a female boss only once, at the very beginning of my career. At Time magazine in the 1970s, my bureau chief, Sandra Burton, looked out for me in many ways. When I went out on assignments involving powerful or famous men, she warned me to be on guard against what was then called "lechery," before "sexual harassment" became a familiar term. She mostly laughed off the experiences she had had rising up the ladder in a male-dominated profession, but, looking back, there is nothing funny about them.
There are, of course, men who are terrific bosses and look out for the young women who work for them. When I was a young researcher at NBC News, my boss, Roy Wetzel, warned me away from a correspondent with a history of hitting on young women in the research pool. But in my experience, female bosses are more prone to take decisive action against harassers. At the Times and other places I worked in senior positions, there were situations where the men at higher levels wanted to look the other way in cases of sexual misconduct. I took it upon myself to confront the miscreants and to follow up with human resources.
By the end of my first year as executive editor of the Times, the newsroom masthead of the most senior editors was half women for the first time. But one of the most disheartening trends since I was fired in 2014 is seeing the number of top female editors stagnate. We're back where we were 10 years ago.
Empowering more women will help change the culture and the prevalence of sexual misconduct.
Jill Abramson teaches at Harvard University and is co-author of "Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas".
AT CHURCH: Identify and destroy abuse
How do you stop abuse within the church? Photo / Getty Images.
One of many critical steps that Christians must take to end the systemic abuses within our churches is to develop a safeguarding policy in every church and Christian organization.
Such a policy must identify the various types of abuse — such as sexual abuse and misconduct, child abuse, emotional abuse and spiritual abuse — and provide specific guidelines that minimize their occurrence.
In addition, every safeguarding policy must help create an environment that encourages abuse disclosures and provides a protocol for responding to them. That means defining response protocols to ensure that disclosures are addressed in a consistent manner regardless of the identity or influence of the alleged abuser.
Safeguarding policies would need not only to satisfy best-practices standards but also be developed by each individual church in collaboration with victim advocates and abuse prevention experts. Effective safeguards don't come from cutting and pasting policies from other churches or organizations.
Keep in mind, though, that the most thorough and well-written policy is powerless unless it becomes part of the very DNA of the church community. This begins by making sure that every member has a copy of the policy and fully understands it through ongoing education and training by church leadership, in partnership with abuse prevention experts. It is also critical for the safeguarding policy to be reviewed on a yearly basis, for the purpose of making continuous improvements that will best protect all members. The effective safeguarding of members won't become a central part of the church culture overnight. It will take time, a lot of hard work, and commitment from the entire church family. But it can be done: I've seen it!
One of the great challenges in confronting and addressing abuses within our churches is that abuse is not something that can be resolved exclusively through "policy" change. It requires a cultural transformation that can occur only when we see and understand these grave issues through the lens of Jesus.
Boz Tchividjian is executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE) and co-author of "The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide for Churches and Ministries".
