Ending Sexual Harassment: Protecting the Progress of #MeToo

ABSTRACT

How can we best protect and safeguard the progress of the #MeToo movement? This article presents 11 reforms designed to ensure the movement’s drive toward justice. These fall into three areas. The first concern process reforms designed to (a) protect all those involved—accusers and the accused—in investigations of sexual harassment, (b) end differential treatment of those found guilty, and (c) ensure punishments are commensurate with the crime and proportional in terms of other transgressors. The second set of reforms focus on transparency of the process, including clarifying (a) how to file charges, (b) who makes decisions, (c) relevant public information on how charges and procedures are followed, (d) what transgressions result in which punishments, and (e) how complaints are investigated to protect the rights and privacy of all. Finally, I address cultural issues that address (a) our portrayal of women, (b) our societal attempts to prepare young people so they can better protect themselves, and (c) attempts to encourage bystanders to intervene in the face of sexual harassment of others.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual harassment
• #MeToo
• due process

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Zack Beauchamp at [email protected], October 3, 2018, described a poll released October 3, 2018, suggesting the striking partisan breakdown concerning sexual assault allegations. The nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute polled a representative sample of Americans: “If a political candidate has been accused of sexual assault by multiple people, would you still consider voting for them if you agreed with them on the issues, or would you definitely not vote for them?” Among Republicans, 56% said they would consider voting for a candidate who had been accused by multiple people; 34% said they would not. Self-identified Democrats differ sharply, with 81% saying they would not vote for such a candidate, and only 16% indicating they would at least consider it (Vandermass-Peeler et al. 2018).

2. To simplify discussion, I include all of these behaviors in the category of sexual harassment, but bearing in mind, of course, that there are critical distinctions that can become relevant.

3. See #whyididntreportit for further evidence on why the sexually abused fail to report it.

4. Willenbring charged Marchant with repeatedly shoving her down sharp slopes while on various expeditions in Antarctica, calling her names (slut, whore), throwing rocks at her while she was urinating in the field, and telling her to have sex with his brother, also a member of the expedition. For further details on this case, see Wadman (2017).

5. I use Ayala’s name with his permission given the press attention his case has aroused.

6. This faculty member was not me.

7. Ayala denied this accusation, noting that he does not even use a computer, a claim hard to believe but true, according to the secretary he personally pays to do all his typing.

8. A colleague who saw both the redacted and the original reports found the redactions strengthened the university’s position (e.g., by omitting information that charges by one accuser had been thrown out). I was later shown a video of the Chancellor speaking at a public gathering of alumni concerned about the Ayala investigation. In response to their questions and defending the integrity of the university’s system, the Chancellor said that there had been four accusations, but he failed to note that one accusation had been thrown out. This seems a bit misleading, in my opinion. I noted analogous errors in Professor X’s redactions.

9. I recognize that sexual predators can be of either gender, as can targets, but I shall use traditional terms here to simplify, thus assuming the majority of the targets are women and the majority of harassers male.

10. Results are mixed but overall suggest that much behavior which men find inoffensive nonetheless feels threatening to women. This may be especially true for milder forms of harassment, such as jokes or touching of hands, etc. The evidence is not dispositive, however, and this is an area on which further work is needed.

11. The same logic holds true for minorities, although they have not been the focus in this article.