WWJD

What the recent sexual misconduct allegations should tell us

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or have been in the Saskatchewan outback looking for Bigfoot, there’s no way you haven’t heard about the numerous sexual misconduct allegations and accusations that seem to have exploded over the past month.  If I remember correctly, it all started with the Harvey Weinstein allegations.  Then Judge Roy Moore.  And now Senator Al Franken.  Many of us are outraged, some skeptical.  In looking at this from strictly an outsider’s perspective, I think there are several things this situation should tell us.

Men in positions of power and influence have historically taken advantage of the more vulnerable.  King David in the Bible took advantage of his position as the king of Israel to take Bathsheba, wife of one of his captains, for himself and ensured his captain died in battle to hide his transgression.  You can’t get much further back than that.  This attitude of leaders that enables them to think they can get away with anything was described by Ludwig and Longenecker in 1993 as the Bathsheba Syndrome.  (King David was later confronted by the prophet Nathan and repented of his transgression.  God still punished him, but David was restored after his repentance.)  It’s time for this to stop.  Abuse of power, in whatever context it occurs, demonstrates weak and pathetic leadership.  Until the people within an organization start holding leaders accountable, the behavior will continue.

Victims of sexual assault still do not always feel comfortable coming forward to report their situation.  There are a number of reasons this happens.  Some fear retaliation, physical or otherwise, others don’t think they’d be believed, and others don’t feel they would be taken seriously by the justice system.  For many years, rape victims were made out to be willing participants based on how they dressed or acted.  It’s no wonder victims don’t trust the system.  This has to stop.  In many ways, there have been advances in sexual assault reporting.  Many justice systems have victim advocacy groups; people that work in the system for the victim.  More laws have been passed that make it easier for a victim to come forward and not fear retaliation (e.g. whistleblower laws).  There are forensic techniques and methods available now that can confirm or rule out alleged perpetrators (e.g. DNA testing).  It’s a very good start and lightyears from where we were 30-40 years ago, but there’s still much more to be done.

Sexual harassment/assault training is not the way to go.  Perpetrators already know what they’re doing is wrong, that’s why they hide it.  Training is merely a legal box to check in case something happens later.  The individual couldn’t use the “I didn’t know” excuse.  Come on, really?  Weren’t we all told from an early age (kindergarten, etc.) to keep our hands to ourselves?  It’s been reported that Congress has spent $15-17 million (depending on what news source you look at – CNN reported $17, NYP reported $15) paying off sexual assault victims in a system that makes it difficult for victims to report allegations.  Millions?  (By the way, that’s your money and my money, not money coming from their own pocket.)  The names of perpetrators (our elected officials) remain anonymous as part of the agreement that accusers have to sign in order to get the process started.  Training only costs money and takes civil servants from doing their primary job.  Eliminating sexual harassment/assault (and any other misbehavior) in the work place will only occur if it is part of the corporate culture and perpetrators are held accountable.  We are part of that culture.  We are responsible for making sure any desirable behavior doesn’t occur.  Harvey Weinstein’s alleged actions were apparently well known.  Corey Feldman has been talking for a long time about the sexual abuse occurring in Hollywood for decades against child actors.  (I applaud his courage, he was one of the first to speak out.)  There are now a large number of actors coming out, which is great, but what have they done to change the culture of their industry?  I’m not pointing a finger, just pointing out how all of us must take a stand to improve our organization’s culture to prevent undesirable behavior.

At the beginning of the year, Vice President Mike Pence was ridiculed for his personal policy that would not allow him to be alone with a woman not his wife.  Rather than celebrating him for maintaining ethical relations with women, pundits made this about women not being hired to key positions in the White House and the administration, which isn’t true.  It’s sensationalism, not truth.  Others mocked him for his religious beliefs that were the basis for his policy.  Others made fun of his policy to not attend events that served alcohol unless his wife was with him.  Alcohol, by the way, is a contributor to many misbehaviors including sexual misconduct.  Billy Graham once had dinner with England’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  She and he were seated at a table in the center of the room, with his male advisors surrounding them at a distance.  This enabled them to talk about sensitive issues without others directly overhearing, but allowed his advisors to step in if they saw anything inappropriate.  So all those pundits that were hysterical saying this policy prevented VP Pence from EVER meeting with a woman don’t understand how this work.  However, I wonder if any of those that ridiculed him would think differently with so many people (men) in positions of power are now the targets of allegations.  If they had taken the same precautions from the very beginning, it’s likely many of the situations could have been prevented.

Sometimes it’s dangerous to take the moral high ground, particularly when we’re not regularly on the moral high ground.  (This applies to me, too, by the way.)  Returning to the previous example of people ridiculing VP Pence for his policy, many who ridiculing him are now having to eat crow or, at the least, avoid covering other allegations because the targets are on their “side.”  When allegations against Judge Roy Moore came out (and I’m not entering into a discussion of whether they are true or not), people in Congress were saying that Congress is no place for a person like Roy Moore.  Only, we find out after the fact that Congress has paid out $15-17 million to settle claims.  I risk the accusation of broad brushing here, but what exactly kind of person is right for Congress again?  The whole point of this particular lesson is that we can’t feign righteous outrage with skeletons in our own closets.  (And everyone has skeletons, including me.)  Because our feigned outrage will come back to haunt us when those skeletons are unearthed.  This is a lot easier in a digital age and people in positions of power and influence (particularly politicians) seem to forget this. 

So, there are lots of lessons to be learned from recent events.  The bigger, and most important part, is figuring out how to prevent it from happening in the first place.   Victims of sexual assault pay a heavy price for their perpetrator’s actions.  Negative impacts sometimes last decades and, in some cases, never go away.  Human nature being what it is, I propose people (men and women) in positions of power put a policy in place that prohibits them from being alone with the opposite gender.  It can be done in the style of Billy Graham, but avoiding situations where even the appearance of impropriety is very important.  People in organizations need to hold their leaders accountable by demanding an organization climate that does not tolerate sexual misconduct.  And we can start the education process early.  Rather than pushing a social agenda, we should be training and educating our nation’s youth on appropriate behavior to make it a culture change through generational transitions.

But, what do I know?  I’m no saint.  This is just my two cents … for what it’s worth.

Photo credit:  SAC Consulting and Investigative Services, LLC.  https://sacsconsulting.com/2016/01/18/sexual-harassment-101-know-your-rights/