Revelations of sexual misconduct, including allegations of rape, against film producer Harvey Weinstein have not come as a surprise to at least one woman: The woman researcher who had filed a sexual harassment complaint against her former boss and head of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Rajendra Pachauri, in February 2015.
“Sexual harassment by powerful, entitled men is endemic and exists throughout the world,” the researcher, who by law and media practice may not be named, told IndiaSpend. Worse, she said, predatory behaviour by men in powerful positions is enabled by a work environment that turns a blind eye to it.
The price of speaking up against sexual harassment can be high. That price, she said, could include a hostile work environment and even the loss of a job, particularly if the perpetrator is the boss; mental stress and loss of health, and an expensive and long legal battle.
And, yet, it’s important to speak up, to put an end to such behaviour and to a culture of silence, she said.