Sacramento Bee news columnist Marcos Breton urged her to âName one rapist at the California state Capitol,â to which Christine Pelosi replied âI will not be bullied into breaking their confidence.â
The way this is written makes it sound like sheâs saying sheâs protecting the alleged rapists, but I assume she meant she would not be bullied into outing the victims without their consent.
Agreed. The overall context here is pretty clear from the article.
[quote]SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) â U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosiâs daughter Christine has taken the spotlight in the sexual harassment scandal enveloping Californiaâs Legislature with her claim there are ârapistsâ are in the state Capitol and lawmakers are protecting them.
The younger Pelosi, chair of the California Democratic Partyâs womenâs caucus, produced gasps Tuesday when she made the statement at a legislative committee hearing on state sexual harassment policies.
While many testified, sometimes angrily, about a dysfunctional system they say protects the powerful and encourages silence from victims, Christine Pelosiâs comments stood apart for their bare-knuckle boldness. They struck a nerve, with some taking to social media to express incredulity or to call on Pelosi to provide more information.
âAs someone who works in the Capitol, I had NEVER heard that there are rapists in the building,â Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher wrote on Twitter.
Christine Pelosi fired back: âWe have. That you donât know illustrates the problem: women do not trust the legislature to protect them.â[/quote]
Unfortunately, if women will not come forwardâeven anonymouslyâthey are in danger of providing cover for those who want to make all accusers into liars or publicity-hounds, or whatever is necessary to make the scandals go away. If society is really going to change its mores, we need facts, and I say that knowing how difficult, even tragic, that will be for some women who are involved (against their wills, let us remember).
Itâs an IMMENSELY painful act of bravery to testify to such a thing, especially as our culture vilifies them or stigmatizes them: they are referred to as âvictimsâ and not âsurvivorsâ of sexual assault. It becomes part of who you are (from the perspective of others.) You are conditioned to feel guilty and tainted for your âparticipationâ in the event. Most people never speak of it again, hoping to bury the terrible fallout.
So good on them and proud of them for the women who can manage to testify about such horribly scarring and life altering acts. But no judgment for those that cannot bear to do so or do not wish to do so. I canât even imagine how difficult it would be to not only re-open those wounds, but be met with fierce public condemnation for it.
Pelosi raised a damn fine woman
Pelosiâs daughter says, âthere are ârapistsâ are in the state Capitol and lawmakers are protecting themâ and gets audible gasps.
Trump says, âGrab 'em by the Pu**y.â Crickets
Yes!
No, no judgment. When I was in college (which was a LONG) time ago, I went to a presentation by Vladimir Dedijer, a Yugoslav historian. Dedijer had been in the resistanceâat the meeting he pointed to his wife and said, âShe still knows how to field-strip a machine gun.â I remember that he commented that he did not blame those who had been captured by the Nazis and had broken under torture, because âYou canât go to the barricades 365 days a year.â
Iâve often thought about that. So, no blame to women who just canât bring themselves to come forward, but some people need to find the courage to do so if society is to change.
I think we are at a cultural turning point. Itâs not not just the women who need to come forward though, itâs the reactions we have to them when they do. Reading the Weinstein case it sounds like multiple women did report or fight back over the years, but were then paid or brushed off. Like the Italian model who went straight to the NYC Police, but they didnât do anything.
It is a social and cultural system that needs to change, we need to also make it safe for these women to come forward. Organizational culture is powerful, not only to silence sexual harassment, but also in how organizations treat workers or safety and environmental regulations.
This was written in a sociology blog I follow:
Prominent figures in American film, news, and politics are facing a dramatic wave of sexual harassment accusations. In response, the heads of organizations â like the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and various colleges and universities â are not only encouraging victims to voice their allegations, but also re-examining their own institutional cultures. Social science research has explored the social dynamics of sexual harassment in the workplace and the conditions that prevent reporting.
Individuals who experience sexual harassment often do not report right away â some may not interpret their experiences as abuse at first, but even when they do, many choose not to come forward. And others who are aware of the harassment frequently turn a blind eye. In order for victims of sexual harassment, discrimination, or abuse to come forward, they must first believe that doing so will be effective and not result in their own harm. Lost jobs opportunities and the fear of retaliation are among the most frequent reasons for not reporting, and educational, psychological factors, and financial resources all influence the likelihood of reporting.
- Amy Blackstone, Christopher Uggen, and Heather McLaughlin. 2009.
âLegal Consciousness and Responses to Sexual Harassment.â Law &
Society Review 43(3): 631â668.
Deborah Brake. 2007. âPerceiving Subtle Sexism: Mapping the Social-Psychological Forces and Legal Narratives that Obscure Gender
Bias.â Columbia Journal of Gender & Law 16: 679.
Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison and Frances J. Milliken. 2000. âOrganizational Silence: A Barrier to Change and Development in a
Pluralistic World.â Academy of Management Review 25(4): 706-725.
Organizations can also develop cultures of corruption and silence as sexual harassment becomes embedded within the institution. Members normalize and justify these practices, and then socialize newcomers to view such behavior as permissible and even desirable. In doing so, members of the organization legitimize and reinforce the status quo. For instance, womenâs success may be interpreted as a threat to menâs masculinity, and in some cases, these men respond through controlling practices like sexual harassment. In order to keep their jobs and avoid conflict with coworkers, many women remain silent and feel they must tolerate unwelcome sexual advances. When coworkers witness harassment and do not respond, victims may internalize negative judgments, which lowers their sense of well-being and reduces opportunities for collective action.
- Heather McLaughlin, Christopher Uggen, and Amy Blackstone. 2012.
âSexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power.â
American Sociological Review 77(4): 625-647.Deborah Jones and Judith Pringle. 2015. âUnmanageable Inequalities: Sexism in the Film Industry.â The Sociological Review 63(1): 37-49.
Diane Vaughan. 1996. The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Blake E. Ashforth and Vikas Anand. 2003. âThe Normalization of Corruption in Organizations.â Research in Organizational Behavior 25:
1-52.
But the Democrats are regarded as weak on the problem because Franken and Conyers havenât been issued their walking papers. And weâre days away from letting a monster like Moore into the Senate.
âHer comments were shocking and bracing,â Nalder said âGiven the fact that we donât have any solid allegations going that far yet, it does present the possibility of undermining the veracity of legitimate claims of sexual harassment that we do know have gone on.â Did she also add that now is not the time?
What kind of equivalent of a whistleblower protection rule would you need to make workplace rape survivors feel even a modicum of safety?
Is it true that lawmakers cannot be charged for crimes of which they are accused while serving? âCause if it is, the only recourse for those raped would be reporting to the legislative (good olâ boys) body itself, making it less likely a woman would come forward.
But also imagine - if someone serving in a government position does not feel safe and/or empowered enough to report a rape, how much more difficult it must be for the average Joan on the streetâŚ
Different scenarios -
For a woman in a workplace in which the rapist was not a coworker/boss, the institution must have already established a culture that always operates with equal respect and empathy for all personnel at all times, no exceptions. Respect privacy and autonomy, appreciate the persons all personnel are, etc.
If the accused rapist is a coworker, the institution must also have and enforce policies that say anyone in their employ accused of a violent crime by anyone will be suspended (preferably without pay, or with reduced pay, depending on circumstances) for the duration of the trial. They must make it clear they will take that step only if police have (at least) begun an investigation, made an arrest, etc. (Thus making sure accuser intends to prosecute if possible, covering themselves re: liability / false accusations, etc.) Perhaps also some provision to fully restore pay/back pay and position in the event of exoneration. (In which case, perhaps even have punitive actions against those making false claims, etc.)
Policies re: sexual harassment have too often not been backed by equal respect - resulting in the âmost respectedâ (therefore most often believed) being the one holding the higher-paid position and/or generating the most income for the institution and/or boss over subordinate and/or any male over any female, and/or any white person over any POC, etc⌠Those need to be thrown out the window and backed by a history of equal treatment exhibited.
ETA: Intriguing question. Thank you for posting it.
You are certainly right. And, unfortunately, itâs by no means clear that the revelations over the past few weeks have made much different to the average victim of harassment.
As for prosecution, a member could be removed from office and then prosecuted.
The other thing Iâm thinking of (and I donât know how this can be done at just an official level) is that there has to be a really strong policy, from the top, of no retaliation against people who report rape. No forced counseling, no mandatory medical/psychological leave, in fact nothing on the official or unofficial record that might indicate that the rape survivor is a âtroublemakerâ or ânot a team playerâ or âdisruptiveâ âhad had issuesâ or any other those other code phrases or pauses in speech that tell their next employer to run away. (I recall a graduate student friend who had to switch departments just before thesis time because she was called as a witness in a harassment/assault complaint against a faculty member. That was enough to make her a pariah.)