Sexual Harassment // Current

Female office workers: "Don't call us babe"

It's no surprise that female office workers hate derogatory pet names given to them by... more

hpseaton
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Judge aquitted on charges of sexual abuse with inmates only to be brought up on them again......

The new cases were added to the 57 counts involving nine accusers issued by the grand... more

regjoeschmo
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3 comments

The best flag in the world

That's the flag of the Benin Empire, a pre-colonial African state situated in modern... more

remanns
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NYC’s Tavern on the Green files for Chapter 11

Tavern on the Green, the landmark restaurant in New York City's Central Park, has... more

jmsrmy
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How the internet makes a local crime a federal one

A small-town Kansas cop e-mailed naked pictures of himself to a woman he pulled over... more

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G.I. Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier

Before 2001, America’s military women had rarely seen ground combat. Their jobs kept them mostly away from enemy lines, as military policy dictates.

But the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, often fought in marketplaces and alleyways, have changed that. In both countries, women have repeatedly proved their mettle in combat. The number of high-ranking women and women who command all-male units has climbed considerably along with their status in the military.

“Iraq has advanced the cause of full integration for women in the Army by leaps and bounds,” said Peter R. Mansoor, a retired Army colonel who served as executive officer to Gen. David H. Petraeus while he was the top American commander in Iraq. “They have earned the confidence and respect of male colleagues.”

Their success, widely known in the military, remains largely hidden from public view. In part, this is because their most challenging work is often the result of a quiet circumvention of military policy.

Women are barred from joining combat branches like the infantry, armor, Special Forces and most field artillery units and from doing support jobs while living with those smaller units. Women can lead some male troops into combat as officers, but they cannot serve with them in battle.

Of the two million Americans who have fought in these wars since 2001, more than 220,000 of them, or 11 percent, have been women.

Despite longstanding fears about how the public would react to women coming home in coffins, Americans have responded to their deaths and injuries no differently than to those of male casualties, analysts say. That is a reflection of changing social mores but also a result of the growing number of women — more than 356,000 today — who serve in the armed forces, including the Reserves and the National Guard, 16 percent of the total.

Not all combat jobs are the same. Handling field artillery or working in Bradleys, for example, are jobs more suited to some women than light infantry duties, which can require carrying heavy packs for miles.Most women in the military express little, if any, desire to join the grueling, testosterone-laden light infantry. But some say they are interested in artillery and armor.

Any change to the policy would require Congressional approval, which lawmakers say is unlikely in the middle of two wars. But women in the military and their allies want their performance in combat to count for something.

“We have crossed that line in Iraq,” said Representative John M. McHugh, Republican of New York and the nominee for Army secretary. “Debate it all you want folks, but the military is going to do what the military needs to do. And they are needing to put women in combat.”Before 2001, America’s military women had rarely seen ground combat. Their jobs kept... more

Theekshani
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WHACKO-TV SEXUAL HARASSMENT

WHACKO-TV Human Resource director Bart Finnster gives some good advice to men and... more

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In Egypt, Invoking Islam to Combat Sexual Harassment

Doaa Kassem, like most Egyptian women, is used to being catcalled and grabbed at by men in the crowded streets of Cairo. The 24-year-old executive secretary is well versed in women's rights, having studied the subject in Sweden, and she is bolder than most when it comes to dealing with her harassers. "I'm brave enough to stop them and tell them [what they're doing is wrong]," she says. Sometimes she even chases them down. Kassem may be brave, but she's under no illusions about the Egyptian government's attitude toward the issue. "The government has always denied sexual harassment [happens] in the street," she says. So when Kassem is shown the new government-issued pamphlet titled Sexual Harassment: Causes and Solutions, her eyes widen. Last week, Egypt's Ministry of Endowments, the government division responsible for the administration of mosques, distributed the informational booklet to mosques across the country in what appears to be one of the first serious government responses to a problem that has become impossible to ignore. While Egypt's sexual harassment epidemic has earned the country a reputation as one of the worst harassment locations in the Middle East, the government has gained notoriety among bloggers and human-rights groups for denying the very existence of a problem. Then in 2008, the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, a Cairo-based NGO, released the first extensive report on the issue. Out of 1,010 Egyptian women surveyed, some 83% said they had experienced sexual harassment. Nearly half reported being subject to harassment on a daily basis, with abuses ranging from lewd comments to violent molestation.

The report, which also documented the widespread belief that women are largely to blame for their harassment woes, set off a debate in the Egyptian and foreign press over who is at fault, and what steps — if any — need to be taken. The government decided that one way to tackle the problem was to address it through the teachings of Islam. Sexual Harassment: Causes and Solutions," which was distributed to 50,000 imams nationwide, lists five causes of harassment, including weak religious awareness and mental and cultural emptiness. It also suggests ways to tackle the problem. "When the imams realize that sexual harassment is a social hazard, and they understand the reasons behind it, then they start spreading the message," says Salem Geleil, Egypt's Deputy Minister of Endowments and the book's editor. "Egyptians are very religious ... So when you approach a cause from a religious point of view, the response is very strong."

It's not the first educational pamphlet of its kind. In the past, the ministry has offered mosques similar guidebooks on issues ranging from terrorism to women's dress. And the solutions proposed in the booklet — which include a greater adherence to religious and family values to better law enforcement — don't necessarily match the advice preached by women's groups, who focus primarily on drafting formal legislation on the matter and promoting female empowerment. Nevertheless, the ministry's decision to address the issue at all, and on such a scale, may indicate a marked shift from the government's stance just last year: that sexual harassment is the problem of just a few individuals. "It's a big change," says Rasha Hassan, the main researcher at the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR). "Of course the government still needs to do a lot. But nowadays we can see some change in the ministries." And there have been other indicators of change as well. Last fall, an Egyptian man was sentenced to three years in prison in the first known conviction on sexual harassment charges in the nation's history. In November, the police initiated a harassment crackdown, arresting over 500 men in a single day, although since then action to combat the problem has been inconsistent. Women's rights groups are urging more women take matters into their own hands and file formal complaints — a daunting task.Doaa Kassem, like most Egyptian women, is used to being catcalled and grabbed at by... more