In the past year, the public-interest sector was shaken up by a number of reports of sexual harassment against women, allegedly perpetrated by powerful men in positions of power.
Larger systems of oppression such as racism, classism, sexism and patriarchy, enable oppressive power over others. These cases all have a common theme — that of alleged male perpetrators in senior positions abusing their power and authority over the women below them.article, in which the alleged victims of the Legal Resources Centre’s Henk Smith speak out, the culture of grooming is spoken about. As a young woman wanting to do good in the public interest sector, you look up to your seniors.
Perpetrators may emotionally manipulate their victims to fear that the consequences of speaking out against them is too great because of the power they hold over them — for example, they may be accused of defamation. Furthermore, there are cases where women do speak out and are not believed. When a victim does decide to speak out, they are left at risk of being stigmatised in their workspace or in the broader sector, and ostracised in certain spaces by their perpetrators.