Women's Issues

ABA Survey Reveals Men Think They're Doing A Pretty Good Job Being Allies To Women. Women Disagree.

Some depressing news

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Here’s some utterly unsurprising news: a recent survey conducted by Working Mother and ABA Journal of 3,000 employees of businesses and law firms (the majority of respondents were in the legal industry) about sexual harassment in the workplace revealed men and women have vastly different perceptions of the problem. In the wake of the #metoo movement, there is more awareness about sexual harassment and assault, but in companies and law firms around the country, there is little agreement about the scope of the problem, or how to fix it.

Some of the most startling findings are:

  • 68 percent of female respondents said they’d experienced sexual harassment at work, compared with 19 percent of male respondents;
  • A paltry 27 percent of women surveyed said their complaints about sexual harassment were taken seriously, while 42 percent of men reported that their complaints about sexual harassment were taken seriously;
  • 52 percent of women surveyed did not report the sexual harassment they experienced because it would negatively impact their job, and only 27 percent of men surveyed said the same;
  • 47 percent of female respondents said sexual harassment was tolerated in their organization, compared with 30 percent of male respondents;
  • 45 percent of women said they had no confidence in their senior leadership as it relates to sexual harassment, versus 24 percent of men surveyed; and
  • 54 percent of the men surveyed said men and women are allies in reaching gender equality, yet only 31 percent of women agreed.

Howard Ross, founder of diversity consultancy Cook Ross, mansplains why men have been slow to get on board:

“The #MeToo movement is also a reminder of the roles women and men have played at work. But men might not see how this relates to them. A man who believes he treats women fairly might not understand why this is about him. This is often because dominant groups tend to see offending behavior as one-offs, rather than part of a larger structural issue. Until we can get men to see that, it will fall on women to bear the burden of speaking out.”

This failure to see the systemic nature of the sexual harassment prevents a solution to the problem. Like if you keep on covering up skin lesions with makeup because “it’s only a spot” but you really have skin cancer… welp, you can guess how that’s going to turn out for you.

Another disturbing statistic revealed by the survey is that 56 percent of male respondents (versus 35 percent of women) said one-on-one professional relationships between men and women colleagues were at risk because of the perception something untoward could be happening. And in a response the ABA Journal characterized as “extreme,” one man said he refuses to be alone with any woman in his office:

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 “What I do know is that one allegation can be a career killer. So, as a male who is in a leadership role in my office, I will not be alone in the office with any female—whether she is a colleague or a support-staff member. This is to protect myself,” he explained.

Obviously this attitude severely limits the mentorship and other work opportunities that women get. Because as long as women are already dealing with a disproportionate amount of the sexual harassment, you might as well throw another obstacle in their path.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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