Sexual misconduct is a type of violence that uses power, control, and/or intimidation to harm another. It includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. It occurs when there is an absence of consent.

The word ‘misconduct’ lacks precision — can be a catch-all for all kinds of behaviour, obscuring what actually happened. Sexual violence or sexual harassment and assault are much more specific terms that convey the nature of the allegations.

It can include sexual harassment at work, like unwanted touching or flirting from a co-worker or superior, to sexual threats and coercion, to rape. All women (men) and girls deserve to live free from violence. Understanding what sexual violence can look like, and how to recognize it in our own lives and the lives of women around us, is an important step towards ending it for good.

Young ambitious women, desperate for a foothold in their chosen profession, can be much more vulnerable to the scourge of sexual misconduct than their older, more experienced colleagues. Women have long struggled to climb the career ladder, doing their best to not offend the movers and shakers yet the proverbial ‘casting couch’ is always in the room.

Sexual harassment defined: encompasses any unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that is committed without consent or by force, intimidation, coercion, or manipulation.

All too often

  • money,
  • power and
  • sex run together.

And too many men of power abuse their positions. The only way to change that culture and attitude is to change the way men view women.

The #MeToo movement was what it took to turn the world’s attention to the magnitude of sexual harassment and assault. And you do not have to be a victim of it to speak up! Harassment poisons the entire work environment and anybody (including men) aware of sexual harassment should be speaking up. There has been a seismic shift in how the public views sexual harassment and complainants are viewed far more credibly than ever before.

I was recently told that a growing number of men are concerned about these allegations and some have decided to stop hiring pretty women. Are they serious? Those men did not want to further expose themselves to such ‘temptations’.

My response:

“Then perhaps, if they have zero self-control,

they should cut off their hands.”

Follow the link to read the novel No Means No