[ernie]

These are the basic choices a woman has:

1) stay in the job so they can continue to pay rent, put food on the table, build a resume to get something better etc

2) find another job in their chosen profession and HOPE the same stuff doesn’t happen. The last couple of months should suggest that hope is just that...hope.

3) exit the job pool

4) report the perpetrator said and risk getting their name drawn through the mud, black balled in the industry etc. It’s worth remembering that many people live and work in small communities that it’s easy to get branded as a “trouble maker” making it difficult to find work again.

In the end we’d of course want 4 to be chosen and without any personal consequence to the victim. There is, quite frankly, no guarantee of that in today’s world.

So what SHOULD a woman do? Whatever she damn well sees fit to do.

What we need to do is create a society where option 4 is easy for people to chose. You get to 4 by supporting the women that do come forward. Creating an environment where others feel emboldened to do so. Creating an environment where 4 isn’t scary because the victim knows there will not be reprisals personally or professionally. YOU DO NOT PRESSURE VICTIMS TO COME FORWARD.