Sexual Harassment Stories and Experiences

Lin, Arizona

     I work in a generally male dominant field, and am an electronics engineer. I have been in my position for a year and a half and unfortunately been the only female out of 12 other engineers. I have tolerated their “jokes” regarding women in general from the start.

     Just recently we were in the process of hiring. A women candidate for a technician position had applied. While she was in her interview, a male co-worker took a peek to see what she looked like, he came back to report “she ok, a little on the chunky side though” another responded “that means she can cook” another replied. The questions and comments kept coming “is she hot”, “we need a change of view around here”. After her interview, our process it to take candidates around to meet the people they will be working with.

     After making her introductions she was required to take a small technical test. Unfortunately she was not very apt in technical experience. But when she left, the comments started again. “We need to hire her, she’s hot”, “she has limited technical skills but who cares”, “I could see down her shirt”. Even the manager stated, she has almost no technical skills but she’s eager and bubbly. Several other candidates were interviewed over the next few days, with little or no reaction.

     I confronted my manager regarding the comments my co-workers had made and I also let him know that their reactions were upsetting to me as an educated female. My manager later e-mailed a copy of our company’s policy to everyone, however, our company is small, the next day, everyone knew I had mentioned my concerns. For the past few days I have tolerated, snide comments and “jokes”, don’t let her find out, she’ll tell, “oh my gosh I should watch what I say, I’ll offend her”, the list goes on. I feel stupid for speaking up in the first place, confused because I keep thinking maybe I am overreacting.

     I dread going into work because I’m not sure if this will pass or if the comments and jokes will continue. I have been advised to notify my HR department, but I’m afraid this will only fuel the fire. And yes, the girl is going to be hired. I wonder if my knowledge of what has happened “behind” the scenes of her interview will cause me to have a bias.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 10th, 2006 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Retaliation, Backlash, and Victim-blaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.