In China, a 28-yer-old woman has won the first sexual harassment lawsuit since the country passed the Chinese Women’s Rights Protection Law back in 2005.
The woman, surnamed Luo, suffered repeated groping from her new boss at the Japanese-owned company Moriroku (Guangzhou) Plastics Company Limited. She complained to the institution officials, even producing photographs of her boss in action at a party. All she requested was an apology and a promise that the company would work to prevent such incidents from happening again. Instead, the fired her.
Luo reported to the China Daily, “They fired me under the excuse of skipping duties without valid reasons….I still live in a terrible psychological shadow after sexual harassment. I have been turned down for several jobs since the case was brought to court.”
The court ordered her former boss to pay 3,000 yuan ($440) in compensation and demanded the company issue an apology letter three weeks ago.
But you know those Chinese and their human rights abuses against women….tsk, tsk. We are so more evolved in the U.S.–NOT!
This is much like every other story I heard since SHS came into being: institutions trying to get around discrimination law by firing the complainants using some lame or trumped up charge about her performance. Many of these are published at the stories area of SHS, there are certainly too many to list here. For me, the professor-stalkers’ particularly lame excuse for their most recent conduct–including phone tapping and repeated burglary–is that I’m ADD and “not focused.” (Earlier, when I would not pursue any of them sexually, in retaliation they spread the blatant lie that I was cheating in school.)
Moreover, the same blackballing is also going on in the U.S., with people often unable to find new jobs after they are fired in retaliation for harassment complaints. And you are really up-a-creek if you come from a small community. I know of one couple who both worked at the company where the wife was harassed. They were literally run out of town after the boss’s conduct came to light.
The U.S. is as violent, discriminatory, and sexist as any other country that we love to point our fingers and sniff at. Will the people of the United States ever grow up enough to have the strength and maturity to see the truth about themselves? Let’s hope so.
Source: 1
This article on sexual harassment of Arab women is another example of similar patterns of discrimination that you can see still in the United States, despite how far along we think we are.
Arab women are underpaid compared to men, just as U.S. women are. Moreover, Arab women are often expected to submit to sexual attention and advances to succeed on the job, or keep their jobs, just like women in the U.S.
From the Arab News: Sexual harassment main hindrance for women job seekers
Comment by Jennifer, admin — January 5, 2010 @ 2:50 pm
The SHSF (our support group) is dedicated to Judith Coflin, a postal employee who committed suicide in 1995 after chronic sexual harassment and abuse by her colleagues. No one has done a study to gage how extreme and long lasting the effects of sexual harassment can be. From our own survey, I know that suicidal thoughts are common, but have only known of this one suicide, until today.
The Times of India reported a few days ago another suicide. H B Mamata, a nurse, killed herself by ingesting “a large number of chloroquine tablets.” She did this to escape chronic harassment by Dr. Harish, the medical officer at Bilikere Primary Health Centre(PHC) were Mamata was employed. According to police, Harish made constant sexual overatures to Mamata, whose complaints were ignored by her employer. Even after she was transferred to another clinic, Dr. Harish continued his pursuit, even threatening her “with dire consequences if she failed to heed to him.” At no time were any discipline or punishments were ever doled out to Dr. Harish by the PHC. Source
Mamata took her own life on Thursday, January 8, 2010.
I can tell you right now that medical systems in the U.S. is just as negligent. When I was employed by hospitals, they were not even requiring doctors to attend sexual harassment workshops, viewing this as only necessary for the less educated employee. (So far, 10% of our survey respondents were sexually harassed by a doctor.) In most cases, all abuse of employees by doctors was ignored. Doctors are viewed as godly (even though I never met one that wasn’t deeply flawed) and you are expected to just take what they dish out, regardless.
In fact, we are so hesitant to hold doctors accountable for their abuses, that we keep blaming the healthcare crisis on insurance companies, and seem to ignore the fact that Healthcare is a profit-driven business, with doctors and hospitals being as greedy, and often as corrupt, as Wallstreet. How can you respect a man or woman who maxes out the insurance of a patient who is expected to die so that they can still make as much money as possible. It’s disgusting.
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http://www.stalkingawarenessmonth.org/
Comment by Jennifer, admin — January 10, 2010 @ 2:22 pm
Another thing we don’t think that happens in Western countries: acid attacks on women. This is something else we tell ourselves only happens in places like India and Afghanistan.
This story is about Katie Piper, a former model in the U.K whose face was destroyed by an acid attack orchestrated by her former boyfriend and a friend of his. (This was on 20/20 last week)
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/KatiePiper/model-burned-acid-attack-rebuilds-life/story?id=9502972
Also, submitted to our own forum, an attempted acid attack on a stalking victim. He didn’t succeed, but the point is he tried. Another story from the United Kingdom
http://sexualharassmentsupport.org/speakupse/2009/07/07/acid-stalker/
Granted, these are not stories from the U.S. But I’ll bet the U.K. has the same denial about their moral superiority.
Comment by Jennifer, admin — January 12, 2010 @ 10:25 pm