The outrage has already prompted women in all sectors to seek legal advice about how to pursue sexual harassment claims. The most comprehensive EU-wide study on sexual harassment, (based on interviews with 42,000 women, across 28 member states, and published in 2014), showed that between 45% and 55% of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment since the age of 15. It also revealed that only 6% of women report serious sexual harassment to colleagues, only 4% contacted the police, and less than 1% spoke to a lawyer. The legislation in the US remains quite vague, according to David Sherwyn, a law professor and labour relations expert at Cornell University, and is hampered by the absence of a federal law against sexual harassment. “Litigating sexual harassment cases can take three to eight years and if they go to court and their allegations become public, plaintiffs fear they may not be hired again.

Source: The Guardian October 20, 2017 23:03 UTC