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Workplace harassment blights industries across board

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Now....what do we do about Donald Trump?

Nothing, these were alleged allegations,you had a number of women allegedly said he did and an almost equal number that said, he didn’t, so at this point, it’s waste of time going back and forth on that.

I think for those that (if true) were sexually assaulted they wouldn't consider it a waste of time. How would you feel if it was your daughter or wife? It's not a waste of time to investigate whether someone was sexually assaulted or not, it's exactly the opposite. Just because you have a hard-on for trump, doesn't mean he is innocent nor does "an almost equal number that said, he didn’t", prove his innocence.

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Ok....This is a good thing that Society is finally waking up to this injustice and declaring that it simply is not permissible. Now....what do we do about Donald Trump? Will this revive the "issues" he has?

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The number of accounts is just staggering, across so many different industries.

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It is interesting how Bill Clinton was left out of this article. Yes it is good society is waking up to this and also it is very good this is being seen as not permissible. What is sad is so many people knew about Weinstein and his antics and kept their mouth shut. What it really takes is others observing this to take a stand however people generally act in their self interest and in the case of Hollywood or politics many do not want to risk their place in the next movie or do not want to upset those in power so they remain silent. Perhaps this will change.

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bass4funkToday  09:42 am JST

Ok....This is a good thing that Society is finally waking up to this injustice and declaring that it simply is not permissible.

Exactly.

then...

Nothing, these were alleged allegations, you had a number of women allegedly said he did and an almost equal number that said, he didn’t, so at this point, it’s waste of time going back and forth on that.

then...

If a woman feels annoyed, agitated, spiteful, greedy, there’s a lot of potential for abuse to happen here and I see it coming. If a woman makes the claim you made sexual advances towards her, how will you fight it if the allegations are totally made up?

So you definitely agree that sexual harassment and sexual assault should not be permissible, but when we have a recording of a guy on your team bragging about sexual assault, you want to just ignore it because some other women said he didn't assault them so that must mean he never assaulted anyone ever, so let's just stop talking about it, and also what if women just make up claims they've been sexually assaulted and somehow it completely makes it through the court system with no evidence whatsoever? Let's malign women as overly emotional and untrustworthy while I stoke your fears of a vagina dentata hellscape where roving gangs of women destroy men's lives just because they're in a bad mood.

Seems like two totally reconcilable positions. Yes, it's a good thing that society is finally waking up, but let's not actually do anything about it.

Maybe we could take a cue from the gun lobby and start sending our thoughts and prayers out every time someone is raped by someone in power?

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It's in every workplace. A study yesterday revealed that at least half of UK women in the workplace have been sexually harrassed.

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@Mr. Townsend - you made a good point about Mr. Trump as well (he was already mentioned however).

As you mentioned, I also have a daughter and would not tolerate her being treated this way by anyone. The fact I have a daughter also drives me to make sure I never treat anyone this way as well.

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lomaeToday  10:34 am JST

While I find this despicable, honestly, I don't think these animal type urges have truly left humanity, we just bury them deep as it is unacceptable in today's society. 

It's an animal urge to want to have sex. It's not an animal urge to sexually assault a work subordinate and then use your position of power to force them into silence. Animals do not have work, office power structures, or a society of laws in which silencing someone from saying something shameful is an issue. Also, we have this super neat prefrontal cortex that lets us do nifty things like not acting on so-called "animal impulses" without thinking about them.

Sexual assault and sexual harassment are choices. Abusers make a choice to abuse. We should stop this narrative that pretends they're somehow not in control of their "animal urges". After all, we also have animal impulses towards violence, and you don't see too many people who commit murder getting excused because of their "animal urges",

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Where will this all end up ?

Doubt it can end, but if companies become more aware of the damages caused by workplace harassment, if those who've been harassed learn they won't be further threatened coming forward with complaints, and if men and women who have knowledge of a colleague or friend being harassed and are willing to be honest about what they know, then that's a huge step forward. Bullying in all forms needs to be confronted.

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bass4funkToday  08:42 pm JST

It means, for all the women that came forth, there were other women that said the opposite, so I have the personal choice of being neutral or I can pick a side and I choose to be neutral.

So in other words, Bill says I punched him (him = Bill).

Bob says I never punched him (him = Bob).

Therefore, you conclude that I must never have punched Bill. Even when I get caught and recorded bragging about all the punching I do.

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While I find this despicable, honestly, I don't think these animal type urges have truly left humanity, we just bury them deep as it is unacceptable in today's society. These people do it because they are mostly in positions of power and believe they can get away with it.

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Japan has a very poor record of sexual harassment lawsuits in the workplace.

Assuming the victim of sexual harassment wins a lawsuit against a company or person, they may walk away with JPY1M-JPY3M in the judgment. It isn't even enough to pay for an attorney's time.

That said, there are companies in Japan that take harassment in any form seriously and will fire a person.

Where will this all end up ? Companies being too afraid to hire the opposite sex, for fear that in future they may face litigation relating to sexual harassment, since regardless whether true or not that would be damaging in itself to their reputation.

Japanese companies are like wedding planners most of the time. I've seen a lot of married couples come from the same company. Only hiring one sex would be disastrous.

Hopefully companies will focus on hiring talented people and educating their employees about all forms of harassment and have systems in place to deal with it. There has always been a risk of false accusations.

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If you're the type of guy who will only speak about sexual harassment with the narrow focus of "women can lie," then you're doing it wrong. Sometimes you need to sit back and let people have their moment to be heard. This is one of those times. It won't kill you to let a conversation or two on harassment slip by without attacking the credibility of women.

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 But remember this, when Clinton was accused of being with Lewinsky Democrats blamed her

I don't remember that, bass. A lot of us giggled, assuming that whatever happened was consensual. For me, it signaled the demise of the Republicans, in my eyes at least. They attempted to impeach on the grounds of "immoral behavior", not of harassment. Please don't go down this path. Some of your other points here make sense.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

 there will be more pressure in the workplace to be careful when dealing with female coworkers, 

Well just a step toward equality. Because, for us, the girls, there always was a huge pressure in dealing with males anywhere in society, starting in kindergarten where the average boy is already strong enough to break your nose, while he is much less scolded for behaving like a dominant ape.

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bass4funkOct. 26  11:34 pm JST

Unless, I can see proof, yes, I might be skeptical.

You haven't seen the proof for Weinstein. Yet you aren't skeptical.

But remember this, when Clinton was accused of being with Lewinsky Democrats blamed her, none of the Democrats blamed him,

You haven't seen the proof for Lewinsky, yet you aren't skeptical.

I guess what you meant to say is, "Unless I can see proof or score petty Internet points off of it, yes, I might be skeptical."

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bass4funkToday  04:46 pm JST

How many women came forward and said that Weinstein raped them and in the same style and manner? Do I know for sure, of course not, do I believe so, I do-based on his history of how he has treated women throughout his career.

How many women came forward and said that Trump harassed or assaulted them in the same style and manner? Yet you're willing to not just disbelieve all of them, but imply they made it all up just because it's disadvantageous to your "team" to believe them. That is rape culture in action.

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How many women came forward and said that Trump harassed or assaulted them in the same style and manner? 

Because more women came out and disputed those claims, so while I am not saying the allegations are false, the majority of women that came forward to dispute the complaints against Trump make me more cautious. Again, leave the emotion of it.

Yet you're willing to not just disbelieve all of them,

Disbelieve, No. Skeptical, a little. But let's flip this around, you are refusing to give the man the benefit of a doubt, so if you want to give these women the benefit of a doubt, then why can't I do the same? Being selective in our accusation towards the president again?

but imply they made it all up just because it's disadvantageous to your "team" to believe them. That is rape culture in action.

I'm not sure, the left has tried so hard make stuff up on this president, so once again, I am and will be cautious when it comes to these issues with the president given the hostile antagonistic climate we are living in. This is how the left get themselves into constant trouble, they get emotional and irrational when they make their arguments and that gets them in trouble. Are these women telling the truth? possibly, could they also be lying? Possibly.

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If I give my opinion, I will be harassed ;(

For your information, studying biology and psychology is interesting to understand how we behave, for the sake of our species sometimes.

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This is only the tip of the iceberg as, as luddite wrote earlier, half if not more of the population could/may think they have been sexually harassed.

I think from now on all companies in all industries will need (and have to implement) clear regulations re what constitutes 'sexual harassment'. Is hitting on someone SH? How about asking someone out, complimenting, inviting/taking someone back to your hotel room etc?

Same from the (potential) victim's perspective, is inviting/accepting a boss/colleague into your room at 2am some sort of consent (playing devil's adv here, not saying IT IS consent)? How about not saying NO, opening the door, following the would-be and/or known perv into their room etc is that consent, can you/how to sue for SH, how long after 'it' occurred?

Very much agree with mmwkdw's point, companies could soon be too afraid to hire someone of the opposite sex in some departments. Clarification is both necessary and needed.

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I don't remember that, bass. A lot of us giggled, assuming that whatever happened was consensual. For me, it signaled the demise of the Republicans, in my eyes at least. 

Yes, the Republicans found out very quickly that they don't impeachments and with good reason.

They attempted to impeach on the grounds of "immoral behavior", not of harassment. Please don't go down this path. Some of your other points here make sense.

To be fair you are right, but overall, the Democrats for years were aware of Bill's sexual indiscretions and said nothing from Jones, to Flowers and Lewinsky these women were for the most part ruined and this is coming from their own mouths. So in that sense the Dems were equally enablers and responsible for not speaking out.

You haven't seen the proof for Weinstein. Yet you aren't skeptical.

How many women came forward and said that Weinstein raped them and in the same style and manner? Do I know for sure, of course not, do I believe so, I do-based on his history of how he has treated women throughout his career.

You haven't seen the proof for Lewinsky, yet you aren't skeptical.

Check her infamous blue dress that's still in the FBI archives with Bill's DNA (ahem) on it.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

So you definitely agree that sexual harassment and sexual assault should not be permissible, but when we have a recording of a guy on your team bragging about sexual assault, you want to just ignore it because some other women said he didn't assault them so that must mean he never assaulted anyone ever,

It means, for all the women that came forth, there were other women that said the opposite, so I have the personal choice of being neutral or I can pick a side and I choose to be neutral. I’m from LA, I have seen more bogus and made up claims against people of power all my life, now I’m not saying there isn’t any validity to these women’s claims, but I will not blindly condemn anyone just because someone waltz on TV, pointed a finger and said, he assaulted me. Back in the South a lot of innocent Blacks were murdered because they were accused of doing something whether the facts held up or not, they would just go on the gut feeling. So I would rather be more cautious until I can see further proof.

so let's just stop talking about it, and also what if women just make up claims they've been sexually assaulted and somehow it completely makes it through the court system with no evidence whatsoever?

Happened before.

Let's malign women as overly emotional and untrustworthy while I stoke your fears of a vagina dentata hellscape where roving gangs of women destroy men's lives just because they're in a bad mood.

Some have done that and some do.

Seems like two totally reconcilable positions. Yes, it's a good thing that society is finally waking up, but let's not actually do anything about it.

Of course you should do something about it, but do it thoroughly and fairly.

Maybe we could take a cue from the gun lobby and start sending our thoughts and prayers out every time someone is raped by someone in power?

Come on, stay with me now!

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

If you're the type of guy who will only speak about sexual harassment with the narrow focus of "women can lie," then you're doing it wrong.

Ok, that's your opinion.

Sometimes you need to sit back and let people have their moment to be heard. 

I totally agree, but I know how this works, now that this came to a boiling point and mind you, this has been going on forever, but now all the cards came crashing down and now all these women are coming out to tell their story which means there will be more pressure in the workplace to be careful when dealing with female coworkers, now people will be on eggshells and have to worry about every little word and action they take because if they perceive in the slightest that you are doing something inappropriate you're going to suffer big time, you will get hit with a lawsuit or lose your job and where will this all end?

This is one of those times. It won't kill you to let a conversation or two on harassment slip by without attacking the credibility of women.

I am not attacking the credibility of women, let's get that out of the way! I am saying there is a potential for abuse, I can see that and yes, sadly, there are some women that would take advantage of this. Remember, women are human and women are fallible.

So in other words, Bill says I punched him (him = Bill).

Bob says I never punched him (him = Bob).

Therefore, you conclude that I must never have punched Bill.

Unless, I can see proof, yes, I might be skeptical.

Even when I get caught and recorded bragging about all the punching I do.

Show me the bruises and then we are off to file a lawsuit. But remember this, when Clinton was accused of being with Lewinsky Democrats blamed her, none of the Democrats blamed him, but Trump's accusers HAVE to be taken seriously.

You guys, lol!

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Yet Trump has no active investigations into what he supposedly did. All the investigations are on the liberal side. Kinda like Russia collusion, huh? Opposition research with a foreign country is treason but its perfectly normal now that Hllary got caught. It was you cant pay or get info from a foreign country or foreign person. But now since 2 days ago, its now a 'hostile' foreign country or citizen. and the foreign spy who was paid is an 'ex' spy so its fine. So Russia is hostile when Trump Jr met with a lawyer but wasnt hostile enough to not sell them uranium?

Liberals keep moving the goalposts on everything the more they get caught doing what they claim Trump did (but didnt). But you guys got that horrible 93 year old sex assaulter HW Bush huh? any liberal satisfaction from 2 Trump haters bringing that up?

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Where will this all end up ? Companies being too afraid to hire the opposite sex, for fear that in future they may face litigation relating to sexual harassment, since regardless whether true or not that would be damaging in itself to their reputation.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Ok....This is a good thing that Society is finally waking up to this injustice and declaring that it simply is not permissible.

Exactly.

Now....what do we do about Donald Trump?

Nothing, these were alleged allegations, you had a number of women allegedly said he did and an almost equal number that said, he didn’t, so at this point, it’s waste of time going back and forth on that.

Also, I think we need to be careful how we move forward on this because what constitutes as sexual harassment? If a woman feels annoyed, agitated, spiteful, greedy, there’s a lot of potential for abuse to happen here and I see it coming. If a woman makes the claim you made sexual advances towards her, how will you fight it if the allegations are totally made up? I think we should do more to stop sexual or any type of harassment at the workplace, but again it should be noted and it should be done rationally, sensibly and conservatively and NEVER be done emotionally, otherwise you have the possible potentiality for serious abuse to happen.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

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