Names change, but harassment appallingly familiar

Opinion

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This article was published 12/10/2017 (2919 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another day, another Harvey Weinstein moment.

News hit last week that the American film producer and former studio executive has been implicated in a number of sexual harassment complaints. He has since been fired by The Weinstein Company and at least three women have accused him of rape, as the stories of sexual harassment pile up.

Meanwhile, fashion designer Donna Karan also chimed in, claiming on Twitter that these women may have been “asking for it” by the way they acted and dressed (she later apologized for the remark), and many men in the industry have been characteristically silent on the issue. The Guardian contacted 20 high-profile male actors and directors who have worked with Weinstein and none would comment.

On Twitter, regular folks have taken to describing their own #WeinsteinMoment — moments in which women (or in most cases, girls) are forced to deal with men who have power and use it in the most despicable way.

“Grabby driving instructor who would tell girls they weren’t going to get their licence unless they kissed him. We all warned one another,” read one tweet.

“In college working on an indie film. I was walking by a producer and he said ‘I can’t take it anymore’ and shoved his hand down my pants,” another said.

“He trapped me in a bathroom and tried to get me to touch his (penis) even after I begged him to leave. Reeeeal champ. He still has a job,” another one described.

“I ALSO had a teacher who massaged female students’ shoulders while we typed. This was fifth grade. What is it with the shoulder massages?!” was another, in response to my tweet about how, as a decidedly old crone, I had had an uninvited shoulder massage while working at my desk. I was too shocked to say anything. I think the person providing it thought it was a compliment. I just wanted to go home and shower.

The Harvey Weinstein moments bring to mind a recent story from the University of Manitoba.

Jazz professor Steve Kirby left the university to teach at an American college in Boston this year. But his decision to leave Manitoba came under a cloud of scandal, because there was an ongoing investigation into sexual harassment.

According to media reports, one of Kirby’s students said he made lewd comments and engaged in unwanted touching, hugging and kissing. An internal investigation at the university concluded the woman’s allegations had merit and entailed sexual harassment. A complaint also has been filed with Winnipeg police.

How could this happen? Usually when you’re applying for a job in academe, professors are required to provide three names as references. They don’t have to be from your institution or your department.

Indeed, although an official at the Berklee College of Music says several individuals at the U of M were contacted as references for Kirby, a spokesman for the U of M said such contact didn’t include anyone in a senior management or human resources capacity.

This should be worrisome, in light of a 2016 Globe and Mail report that indicated 90 per cent of sexual harassment cases at universities are dealt with informally.

That professor who is a little too familiar with students? He can just move along to the next institution and continue to teach. No harm, no foul, just so long as he continues to publish and do research. No one can ask any questions because of how the system is set up.

Of course, we’ve seen this happen historically within the institutional structure of the Catholic church, which would move priests around when there were sexual complaints within the community. The complaints of sexual assault of minors became legion as more and more survivors came forward. Numerous lawsuits were settled; in some cases in the United States, they bankrupted parishes and drove congregants away. The Catholic church is now working hard to redeem itself.

Silence from institutions equals complicity. That’s why when one (or two) brave victims come forward and the complaints suddenly gush out like water from a tap, the torrent becomes far too difficult to ignore. Think Jian Ghomeshi, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly. And others.

That’s why institutions such as universities, churches and businesses need to find ways to work around privacy issues that allow serial assaulters to continue with immunity, and must focus instead on actually protecting the most vulnerable.

And the men and women who look the other way? They’re complicit, too. The rumours in hallways of organizations need to be taken seriously.

Shannon Sampert is an associate professor in the department of political science at the University of Winnipeg.

s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca Twitter: @paulysigh