Welcome back to The Pink Ghetto, a series where we take a look at some of the most appalling stories from one of the most sexist industries in the world: the legal profession. The Silence Breakers who have spoken out against sexual harassment and sexual assault were recently named as TIME’s Person of the Year, praised for their bravery in the face of adversity. Here in the legal profession, however, it is often the case that those who opt to break their silence are disbelieved, shamed, and even shunned. Today, we have a story about a drunken encounter that almost turned into a rape. These are real emails that we’ve received from real readers.
When you see things like this happening, say something. Together, we can inspire the change necessary to stop this disturbing behavior from being so prevalent in the law. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations of women in the law.
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It was a long time ago. A summer associate — pretty, Asian, 2L from a top 10 law school — repeatedly walked past and peered into my office around 10:40 p.m. (Yes, I remember the details that clearly.) She wanted to talk. When we met in the bar downstairs at 11 p.m., she told me a few days earlier she was asked out for drinks by a powerful partner and his two feckless sidekicks. The drinks turned into shots, the shots into a sloppy dinner at an expensive restaurant, then more drinks at the partner’s apartment and an effort to undress her for group sex. One of the feckless fellows stepped in just in time to stop a rape.
The 2L was severely rattled and wanted guidance on what to do.
I’d like to say I marched her back to the office to call the head of the firm at home… but I didn’t. Instead I wondered who’d believe a drunk girl. I wondered who would doubt the word of a lawyer with a big book of business. And what would be the effect on this young girl’s career?
Attitudes have not evolved much at all since then. Absent video, what chance do any of us really have in an industry where the women higher-ups are as likely to retaliate against a victim of near sexual assault as the men?
Do you have a law school or law firm story you’d like to see appear in The Pink Ghetto? Email me (subject line: “The Pink Ghetto”) or find me on Twitter, @StaciZaretsky. You will be kept anonymous. Submissions are always welcome.
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Staci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.