Wendy Tuohy: Women find validation in anger against sexual harassment
THE outrage against powerful sexual predators means vulnerable women have reached a turning point and there’s no going back, writes Wendy Tuohy.
Wendy Tuohy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Wendy Tuohy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WE have arrived at a turning point for women and girls from which there is no going back. Never again will women have to stay quiet as workplace sexual harassment or assault is perpetrated by peers or men with more power than they have.
SORDID DETAILS OF MATT LAUER SEX CLAIMS
LAUER CAUGHT ON TAPE: KEEP BENDING OVER LIKE THAT
HARVEY WEINSTEIN ALLEGATIONS: WHO IS HE AND WHAT DID HE DO?
Now, women with true stories of being groped, sexually menaced, verbally taunted with explicit comments about their looks or sex lives, or cajoled into unwanted sexual activity will be believed when they speak out. These stories are everywhere, the only thing that has changed in the past few weeks is that now they are undeniable.
In a passing chat yesterday with a 24-year-old journalist I have befriended, she mentioned how, for example, working in the hospitality industry while at uni she became so accustomed to sexual harassment it became part of the environment: the diner who rubs aioli into your back, the chef who sees a stain on your skirt and makes a creepy sexual remark.
That girls have been trained from their teens to learn to just take it, mostly without even seeking support from male family members, shows how well understood it has been that complaining is pointless.
It has taken the downfall of famous names to get us to the point where everyday sexual harassment — the acceptance of which is strongly correlated with acceptance of sexual assault and rape — is recognised as pervasive, damaging and, worst of all, widely tolerated. The dam finally cracked with the exposure in October of the industrial-scale sexual exploitation by
MIRANDA DEVINE: THE LEFT’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH FEMINIST ABUSERS
SUSIE O’BRIEN: DON BURKE REFLECTS A POST-WEINSTEIN ERA
Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. This week, the Australian TV scene was rocked by allegations of heinous harassment of women by TV gardening guru, Don Burke.
On Wednesday, one of the most charming and longstanding faces of US breakfast TV, Matt Lauer, was fired for allegations of sexual misconduct towards colleagues on a similarly grand scale.
That anyone dared poo-poo the #MeToo social media movement that swept the globe after the Weinstein revelations now seems incredible: as women know, it is the lucky ones who have not been touched, literally, by sexual harassment. When women feel encouraged to share their truth, as they were on #MeToo, the testimonies are devastating.
Another powerful indication that this landslide of revelations has changed the landscape for good is that many men are standing beside us as we draw the line on it. Big problems take collaboration to solve and that men are vocal in their refusal to tolerate disrespect towards women, and demanding better along with us, is hugely positive.
The Human Rights Commission’s investigation into sexual harassment on Australia’s campuses this year exposed how men who feel entitled to harass or assault women have passed unchecked until now.
Perpetrators have in common that they don’t operate by the same moral codes as the majority of men; they feel they can bend the rules of decency and respect to suit their own gratification.
Until now, young women or women of lower status than their harasser (especially those whose abuser has the power to take away their job or end their career) have felt unsafe coming forward.
There have been too many examples of women who call out sexual harassment or assault being written off as “troublemakers”, “difficult” or “bitter ex-employees” — allowing the guilty party to continue with his behaviour while the victim’s life is derailed — to make many women feel the risk of outing abuse is not worth it.
The bitter consequence of this is that they know they will remain trapped in unsafe workplaces, especially if they are in an industry where jobs are rare and prized and all the powerful players know each other (such as TV).
It should shock everyone that so many women have chosen to stay in stable employment where they are viewed as sexual prey rather than risk the humiliation, ridicule or dismissal that could result from speaking out.
This important moment where the whole community is united in its disgust gives validation to any woman who suffered in silence. Now they know that what happened to them matters.
Workplaces have been changed for better. Now let’s take it to the streets.
Wendy Tuohy is a Herald Sun columnist
Hip hooray, Barbie turns equality activist
BARBIE has copped it over the years for sending unrealistic body-image messages, but she’s made up for all that now she’s shown herself to be a true equality activist, writes Wendy Tuohy.
This CEO’s revelations could save lives
IT’S not easy to talk about your darkest days. But in doing just that, Georgie Harman shows you don’t have to tough it out, writes Wendy Tuohy. We need more CEOs like her.