According to powerful women who each experienced being “pushed off the ladder” of career growth due to sexual harassment, the real problem isn’t about the taboo topics of sex or politics.
“Sexual harassment isn’t about sex, it’s about power,” said Nancy Erika Smith at Tina Brown’s Women in the World Summit in New York on Thursday.
Smith is the founder of law firm Smith Mullin, and she was joined at the eighth annual summit onstage by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, Patricia Tomasello, a firefighter who said she was once stripped of a promotion she deserved, and the host of the TV show "60 Minutes," Lesley Stahl, in an encouraging conversation on a dark topic.
Smith’s statement comes just days after the ironic timing of US President Donald Trump’s decision to strip women of workplace protection during Sexual Harassment Awareness month. These women, however, are standing strong in demanding that sexual harassment must be stopped.
Take Action: Tell World Leaders to End Violence Against Women
“It’s not okay to have to have to leave a job because of sexual harassment,” Carlson said.
Carlson sued Roger Ailes, the former head of Fox News, last year for sexual harassment and settled with the station's parent company for $20 million. Ailes lost his job.
“When somebody sexually harasses you they don’t ask if you’re a Republican, Democrat, or an Independent. This should not be a political issue. I don’t care what political party you’re in, we all have nieces, nephews, or grandkids, and we should all care about this issue,” said Carlson.
Tomasello and Carlson are powerful figures. They are also part of the one-third of women who report experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace.
However, it’s hard to make structural changes when women are unable to tell their stories. Legally, companies can add clauses into job contracts that force arbitration in instances of alleged sexual harassment, which leads to silence and settlements instead of a woman's right to a trial when sexual harassment occurs.
Read More: Donald Trump Says He ‘Never’ Sexually Assaulted Women After 6 Say He Did
“Forced arbitration is a way to shut us up...we need to have laws to protect us and we need to have women legislators to write those laws,” Smith said.
Global Citizen is currently campaigning, in partnership with CHIME FOR CHANGE to end laws that discriminate against women. And there is hope in taking action.
.@GretchenCarlson "In 2017, every damn woman still has a story and we need to change that" #WITW
— Women in the World (@WomenintheWorld) April 6, 2017
“This is not just a book or panel. This is a movement...a lot of times when these stories break, people just want to see the sexual assault stories but it’s really about retaliation,” Carlson said.
Read More: More Than Half of All Women in the UK Are Sexually Harassed at Work
Later in the morning, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, added that “it takes power to transfer power” and men must step up to support women in, and into, powerful positions.
And women of the world were left with encouraging words that we are progressing toward lasting solutions.
“...It may make us feel like it’s getting worse, but there is now a spotlight on the bad things,” said Arianna Huffington. “It’s a catalyst for long-term change.”
Here’s to the women speaking out against sexual harassment and fighting to change the system for a gender equal world.
Read More: 10 Reasons Women Need Equal Pay, And Are Still Fighting For It