金融时报:面对骚扰，她们为何沉默？

面对骚扰，她们为何沉默？

《纽约时报》发布长文报道揭露了好莱坞巨头哈维·韦恩斯坦多年来对女性员工进行性骚扰和猥亵，这则令人震惊的性丑闻再次将职场性骚扰的话题推上风口浪尖。面对职场性骚扰，为何女性总是选择沉默？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

patently['peɪtəntli] adv.明白地，公然地

conjure['kʌndʒə] v.变戏法

lothario [ləu'θɑ:riəu] n.色狼，浪子

starlet['stɑːrlət] n.刚出道的演员，小明星

perpetrate ['pɜːpətreɪt] vt.做坏事，犯罪

retaliation[rɪˌtæli'eɪʃn] n.报复，反击

assertive[ə'sɜːtɪv] adj.过分自信的

posit['pɒzɪt] v.假定, 认为

Here’s why women hesitate to report sexual harassment(639 words)

By Emma Jacobs

Yesterday, the New York Times alleged Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer, had harassed women, including the actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd, and has reached financial settlements with eight women. Ms Judd claims the incident happened two decades ago. The film producer denies many of the accusations as “patently false”.

Hollywood, Mr Weinstein’s playground, has long been known for the casting couch — conjuring images of creepy lotharios preying on hot young starlets. But sexual harassment is not about men unable to resist beautiful women. It is about power and intimidation.

Such cases are not solely perpetrated by Hollywood power brokers. A study of the UK workforce published last year by the Trades Union Congress with the Everyday Sexism project found almost a quarter of women have experienced unwanted touching (such as a hand on the knee or lower back).

Yet, such cases are not solely perpetrated by Hollywood power brokers. A study of the UK workforce published last year by the Trades Union Congress with the Everyday Sexism project found almost a quarter of women have experienced unwanted touching (such as a hand on the knee or lower back).

Women tend to be harassed, men the harassers. A 2012, report by Eurofound, found women were almost three times as likely to be subjected to unwanted advances as men. Women are most likely to be harassed at work when they are in the minority, according to Vicki Magley, professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, who has researched the subject.

When stories come to light, people wonder why the victims waited so long to report the incident. The answer is that many fear retaliation if they complain. Or worry that they will not be taken seriously.

In one study, researchers asked women how they thought they would react if a male interviewer asked questions such as "Are you wearing a bra?". The women anticipated they would report the interviewer for harassment.

In fact, when the researchers then asked such inappropriate questions, it turned out, the women did nothing of the kind. Instead of anger, their overriding emotion was fear. “Anticipated behaviour did not mesh with actual behaviour”, the research concluded.

A usually assertive friend, well-read in feminist tracts, was surprised by her own reaction to being harassed — she kept quiet. She did not want to report the stream of lewd emails, texts, comments for fear of causing a fuss; she worried about whining when she only wanted to be known for her work.

To attract attention for the wrong things would be a career disaster, she reasoned. But also she blamed herself — she wondered if she had encouraged his behaviour. She confided in a female colleague who told her to ignore it. Another told her to put up and take it as a compliment.

Research has found that often women endure the situation, hoping it will go away, or they tell themselves it is not really important, that he did not mean it or that they must have encouraged it.

When cases come to light, those who have previously kept quiet might feel emboldened if there is safety in numbers. But they may also not even recognise persistent inappropriate advances as harassment.

Prof Magley has found that women do not necessarily label wandering hands or explicit comments about their appearance as harassment. This might be a coping mechanism, she posits.

“Women will say, this all happened to me but I haven’t been sexually harassed — if you don’t label it sexual harassment then you won’t report it."

But the outcomes are the same: "There is a negative effect on women who have been harassed, including a desire to quit their job.”

A few years ago, I spoke to a personal assistant about being sexually harassed by her chief executive boss. His modus operandi was to wait until everyone had left the office, then grope her. The only course of action, she felt, was to quit — so she did. Who would have believed her?

Today, perhaps, as more cases come to light, thanks to those stories coming out of Silicon Valley and the likes of Ms Judd, she may have felt more confident about speaking out.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Who is Harvey Weinstein ?

A. An actress who was harassed by a film director.

B. An entertainment journalist at the New York Times.

C. A film director accused of sexual harassment.

D. A successful film producer in Hollywood.

答案(1)

2.According to the author, sexual harassment ____.

A. is common because men cannot resist beautiful women.

B. is mainly about power and intimidation, not sex appeal.

C is most likely to happen in the entertainment business.

D. is common in the workplace but seldom considered illegal.

答案(2)

3.What made the author's feminist friend unwilling to report being harassed ?

A. Because she believed she had encouraged his behaviour by taking it as a compliment.

B. Because her female friends repeatedly told her sexual harassment was not really important.

C. Because she believed to attract attention for sexual harassment would damage her career.

D. Because she believed it would damage her reputation and make her unwelcome at work.

答案(3)

4.Which of the following statements would Prof Magley agree with?

A. A man who makes explicit comments about woman's appearance is guilty of sexual harassment.

B. Women anticipate they would report when they are harassed but actually they tend to keep silent.

C. Most of women do not consider wandering hands as harassment as a result of coping mechanism.

D. As more cases come to light, women will feel more comfortable to report once they are harassed.

答案(4)

* * *

(1) 答案：D

解释：哈维·韦恩斯坦是好莱坞的一名电影制作人。

(2) 答案：B

解释：性骚扰并非是因为男性无法抗拒美丽的女性，而是出于权利和恐吓。

(3) 答案：C

解释：我的朋友认为，因错误的事情引起人们注意会成为她职业生涯的灾难。

(4) 答案：C

解释：Magley教授发现并女性不一定会把冒犯的触摸和对相貌评头论足视为性骚扰。