Here is a great piece about local politics in San Diego and the Bob Filner sexual harassment scandal going on there. The fact that such egregious harassment could go on for so long in a political office raises a larger question about the gender dynamics in such environments. The statistics this article quotes are 19% as the number of women in Congress and 23% as the number of women in political office at the statewide level across the country (and of course 51% is the number of women in the general population). Interestingly, that number was 28% at one point but has been declining for the past 12 years.
This writer, Jamie Quient, observes: "More women at the top would help end the culture of silence that enables sexual harassment to go unreported and unaddressed." Quient also notes how difficult it can be for women to come forward about harassment "when the person harassing you controls your livelihood and can shape your professional reputation." Amen to that! I completely agree with this assessment. If there were more women in leadership positions, not only would bosses be less likely to sexually harass their subordinates, but the subordinates would also would have more superiors they felt comfortable talking to about harassment if in fact they were being harassed. Thanks to Donna Frye for her courageous act of coming forward in San Diego and to Jamie Quient for this great article.
San Diego Needs More Donna Fryes - Voice of San Diego
