Sexual Harassment Roundup

The flood of sexual harassment accusations against and firings of powerful men—such as Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News; comedian Bill Cosby; Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein; and Silicon Valley executives Travis Kalanick, Dave McClure, Justin Caldbeck, and Mike Cagney—can seem like a raging river that will change the sexual harassment landscape forever. But only time will tell if that is the case. Below are some recent sexual harassment cases brought to light by courageous women and men stepping forward to tell their stories—now that they feel people are actually listening to them:

  • Michael Oreskes, a senior editor at National Public Radio, was asked to resign after several women came forward to report inappropriate behavior by Mr. Oreskes at both NPR and his previous job at the New York Times.
  • Hamilton Fish, the president and publisher of the New Republic, and Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor, were both accused of sexual harassment and have stepped down.
  • Roy Price, who oversaw Amazon Studios, left the company after sexual harassment accusations reported to Amazon in 2015 came to light. The company had known about the accusations since 2015 but acted only when the Weinstein story broke in 2017.
  • Mark Halperin, political journalist and author, was released by NBC from his contract upon reports of sexual harassment from former colleagues at ABC.
  • Kevin Spacey, star of House of Cards, was fired after actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making sexual advances when Rapp was only fourteen years old. Netflix has since halted production on House of Cards.
  • Three Dartmouth professors, all male tenured faculty members, have been put on paid leave while an investigation of alleged sexual misconduct is carried out.
  • The British Parliament is investigating accusations of sexual harassment against thirty-six lawmakers. Allegations are also beginning to emerge from the United States Congress.
  • Even the Royal Canadian Mounted Police offered an apology last year to “hundreds of women who were bullied, sexually harassed or discriminated against as officers or employees of the force.”
Why and when does someone become a sexual harasser? What will it take to stop sexual harassment? Stay tuned for answers to these important questions.   Image courtesy of businessforward, no modifications made (CC BY 2.0)]]>

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