Hi Bethany,
My reaction? What took so long? There had been previous public discussions of his marital problems but now there are public accusations of what were previously rumors of inappropriate non consensual sexual transactions at work. Sex is sometimes a transaction. You give sex for love, men give love for sex. That is not illegal and does not violate any laws but it does not belong in a workplace. Sex can be bought or sold for a price by two consenting adults, again not always a crime. At work, especially when there is an imbalance in power, attempts to transact for sex can be oppressive and should not be accepted. If there is verbal or physical violence, inebriation or drugging, there is again an inability to consent. So when one person imposes their sexual will on another, at work, whether intentional or not, it is a crime, whether it is comments, gestures, demands or overt sexual signals, insults or sexual gossip creating a sexual mess at work. Unlike others public cases that go back decades, when the sexual climate was different, these are based on recent behavior that involved victimization of a woman/women who was/were with him in a subservient position in the work place here or abroad. At work women deserve, expect and demand a safe environment where their workplace identity and expression of that identity is unencumbered by distraction because someone else is imposing their sexual desires or needs on them or around them. When women are oppressed at work because they are uncomfortable with advances to them, sexual activity around them that is offensive to them or just inappropriate activity that belongs in a suburban bedroom...... then they have a right to demand compensation, the end of the activity and career redress. Where a boss demoted them or made them lose benefits or advantages to another who supplied a sexual act that created an advantage for another based on sexual behavior, there can be harassment, discrimination and an unsafe or hostile work environment. Usually these matters are handled by HR. The trick is when someone is already fired for objecting to or refusing to cooperate with whatever is being imposed on them, it is too late to handle it internally and it becomes something to litigate in the public eye unless a settlement and a non disclosure agreement lead the matter out of court and into the private agreement domain. The more we settle, the more we will still find that behavior. Most women don't have the means or the money to fight so they just leave the place of employment. The most dangerous consequence is long term damage to the morale, emotional well being and career for the victim. Even passive victimization makes us leave a career path for another safer workplace. Safer is not safe. This is a good time to make our workplace safe so that we can perform our duties at our best, without fear or anger or other emotional distractions from our productivity. What better time than this to unite in one voice worldwide and say enough is enough.
