Don’t Stop Believing: Anita Hill’s Mission To End Gender Violence Continues
Anita Hill, (left) in conversation with journalist Laura Washington at Chicago Humanities Festival (Photo by Timothy R. Schmidt.)
“It is like boiling the ocean.”
Anita Hill, lawyer, advocate, author and professor, explained to a crowd at the recent Chicago Humanities Festival that the enormity of the problem of gender violence in this country is as vast as an ocean. And the process of addressing and eliminating all its forms is as complicated and slow as heating such a vast body of water.
“@AnitaHill, lawyer, advocate, author and professor, explained to a crowd at the recent @Chihumanities that the enormity of the problem of #genderviolence in this country is as vast as an ocean. #justice #womensrights”
But it is possible.
“It’s time to stop addressing the problem and get to solutions,” said Hill, professor of social policy, law and women’s and gender studies at Brandies University, in conversation with Laura Washington, Chicago Sun-Times columnist.
More than 30 years after her October 1991 Congressional testimony on the sexual harassment she endured from Clarence Thomas, then a candidate for Supreme Court Justice of the United States, Hill has spent decades working to honor the stories of survivors of gendered violence and dismantle the systems that support it.
Her most recent book, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey To End Gender Violence, dissects the reckoning in this country dealing with issues of race, gender, age and power in the workplace, institutions, systems and private spaces.
Hill, who has a planet named after her, says she wrote this third book to “address gender violence, address the years since 1991 and where we are headed as a country.” Her hope is that “ending violence based on gender is absolutely possible.”
“@AnitaHill says she wrote her most recent book, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey To End Gender Violence, to “address #genderviolence, address the years since 1991 and where we are headed as a country.” #Believing”
Born in Oklahoma, with 12 siblings, Hill says her home was 60 miles from the 1926 Tulsa Race Massacre and also where the theft and ravaging of Native land and Native peoples were condoned.
“The destruction of Native tribes was missing from our education,” Hill says. “There is still much we do not know about racism in America. The vestiges of colonialism, racism and sexism still hold sway.”
Hill became a public figure because of her testimony in the SCOTUS nomination hearings of Thomas and changed her life in every way. But her story of workplace harassment is common and ongoing.
“My story of being harassed has been told. Then there were only two women in the Senate, and they did not have bathrooms on the same floor as their offices. They had to go to a public bathroom. One of the legacies of the hearing was the 1992 election of six women to the senate, including Carol Mosley Brain, the first Black women senator,” Hill says.
“I think they did believe my story,” Hill says. Congress did not want to act upon it.
Referring to the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford during the SCOTUS nomination hearings of Brett Kavanaugh, Hill compared her treatment to the aggressive treatment of Ketanji Brown Jackson during her SCOTUS nomination hearings.
The senators “were afraid of that kind of power being introduced into systems they thought they had absolute control over. It was not a matter of believing, it was a matter of not wanting to act,” Hill says.
“I am elated that Ketanji Brown Jackson moved forward. This is monumental. That proves (how she was treated) should never have happened. What happened to Ketanji Brown Jackson is happening to people daily in the workplace. They are discredited, discounted and retraumatized. People need to share their stories.”
““I am elated that Ketanji Brown Jackson moved forward. This is monumental. That proves (how she was treated) should never have happened. What happened to #KetanjiBrownJackson is happening to people daily in the #workplace.”—@AnitaHill. #SCOTUS”
And while workplace harassment and violence is one form of gendered violence, it is prevalent and nearly ubiquitous.
The recent jury decision releasing American Airlines from culpability for sexual harassment of a flight attendant during a 2018 work trip demonstrates the lack of accountability employers share for workplace assault.. Kimberly Goesling was denied $26 million in damages over her sexual assault by chef Mark Sergeant.
According to a 2018 study by Hiscox, “Sexual harassment is the most common form of workplace harassment, making up 50% of all complaints. More than 41% of women say they have been sexually harassed at work.”
According to Urbanic & Associates, research shows “Over 80% of survey respondents experience this harassment verbally. Around 44% experienced it through unwanted physical contact or sexual advances. About one quarter received at least one sexually obscene email or text message from a coworker or supervisor.”
“And while #workplace #harassment and violence is one form of gendered violence, it is prevalent and nearly ubiquitous. #MeToo #Believing”
A 2019 HR Acuity survey shows 56% of employees have witnessed or experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and most employees say they are afraid to report it.
According to Inspired ELearning, “Another survey shows that 75% of sexual harassment cases in the workplace are unreported. This statistic shows that organizations need to do a better job in cultivating a culture to show that it’s encouraged to file sexual harassment complaints. Beyond just creating a strict anti-harassment policy, regular sexual harassment training and prompt action against a harassment charge are needed.”
Hill writes in Believing, “Companies throughout the country have taken the steps of establishing policies and procedures to address sexual harassment in the workplace. And a majority of them, more than 70 percent, have initiated anti-sexual harassment training, with 20 percent of American companies requiring employees to take the training.” She adds, “Institutions have to take responsibility for their own structural failures. Management can help solve harassment by first recognizing it, then taking action as soon as it appears.”
Listen to Gloria Feldt’s podcast on sexual harassment
UN Women recently declared that gender violence is a “shadow pandemic globally,” as COVID-19 has doubled the calls to domestic violence hotlines and also increased the incidence of intimate partner violence to one in three women.
“@UN_Women recently declared that gender violence is a “shadow pandemic globally,” as #COVID19 has doubled the calls to #domesticviolence hotlines and also increased the incidence of intimate partner violence to one in three women. ”
Hill says, “It is my opinion that we define gender violence very narrowly. We require broken bones, black eyes, cuts and abrasions. What is missing is a lot of everyday violence.”
That includes workplace harassment, and school harassment, as she says “48% of children grades seven to 12 have been sexually harassed at school.”
According to Hill, “Gender-based violence is sexual harassment, stalking, incest, rape, murder, sexual violence, domestic violence. It is not a pretty story. But it is a happy ending story, that is because it has not ended yet.”
Read about harassment in Take The Lead
Solutions to ending gender violence begin with “addressing the peril that has plagued this country.” That includes “changing how we think about the problem.”
Addressing the problem of workplace harassment also means not making biased assumptions on race, ethnicity, age, sexual identity. “Today five years after the #MeToo movement and moment of reckoning, we don’t know enough about gender violence.”
“Addressing the problem of #workplace #harassment also means not making biased assumptions. “Today five years after the #MeToo movement and moment of reckoning, we don’t know enough about gender violence,” says @AnitaHill.”
Hill adds, “We have to think about who is harassable and who is credible. Language does matter. The message is nobody is going to do anything. It comes down to how we value women. This is a pivotal moment for intervention. How far are we willing to go before we make these issues public issues?”
Read more in Take The Lead on sexual harassment at work
In her book, Hill writes, “When it comes down to it, the possibility of a new generation changing structures that have become business as usual also depends on external factors like finances and regulators. Without systemic changes and industry-wide demands, it’s hard to imagine that individual workplaces will evolve.”
But she is hopeful. “I believe we can change culture, we can change systems. I believe the women who come forward and share their story against all odds truly deserve accountability. We also need to recognize when things look dire and are dire, it is not the end of the story, the story goes on.”
““I believe we can change culture, we can change systems...We also need to recognize when things look dire and are dire, it is not the end of the story, the story goes on.” — @AnitaHill. #believewomen #genderviolence”
