When Trump's Access Hollywood tape came out (in case you lived in a cave, click here) I remember a lot of politicians saying "I have a daughter" or "I have a wife" when they issued their statements of faux disgust. If you can only feel disgusted by disgusting behavior because you have a daughter, than maybe you're not a good judge of moral behavior.
I have a daughter, and when she was born there was nothing better than when she fell asleep on my
You shouldn't need to experience sexual harassment to understand how offensive it is in the work place. Here's my story: Prior to becoming a government manager, I worked in a nonprofit organization. I was a caseworker for homeless clients. I shared a small office with three other employees and our desks were back to back. After working there for about six months my coworker handed me a letter on my way out the door. She told me not to read it until I get to the car . I should note I was engaged at the time and the coworker was about twice my age. As I opened the letter I saw the first line that said “I know this will never work and it might sound crazy." Was she ever right. It did sound crazy. The letter went on and on about how she was madly in love with me. Even though her son was nearly my age she thought we might be able to work it out. Even though I was getting married soon that she would be better for me. It was all very bizarre. It was the only time I ever dealt with anything like that at work. So I took the letter and I went to my boss and the first thing he asked me was if anything happened between us. I said no I just got this letter out of the blue. He asked again, anything going on between you guys? And I said "No, I think she’s just crazy." He told me that I needed to tell her. So I did so over email to make sure she would get it. My boss told me that would end it. It did not, of course. Over the next year she would do things like text me saying she wished I was on the beach in San Diego or things like giving me the address to her house so I could park there while I went to a concert. Each time I would share the information with my boss. And each time he would do nothing about it. That lasted for more than a year. It happened before and after my wedding. I relayed probably 10 different events to my boss and each time he did absolutely nothing. I was in grad school and I needed the job. So until I found a new job, I just put up with it.
When I finally found a new job, I wrote an email to my boss and told him about the hellish environment I dealt with for more than a year. I also CC'd our board of directors. My boss quit a few weeks later and my former co-worker stayed in her job for another year.
I never felt my job was at risk by reporting the harassment and I know what I was experiencing was much less significant than what many people go through. Mostly, I was just very uncomfortable at work and thankfully I was dating a very supportive woman who trusted what I was telling her. I'd like to think that even without that incident I would be as hard on harassment and bullying as I am now, but I'm not sure if I'd understand it as much. So if you're a manager and somebody comes to you with their experience, deal with it right away. You owe it to your staff. If you don't want to deal with it, find a new job.
