MaryJo, in 95 percent of the cases we have handled, the retaliation
comes not just from the perpetrator, but also from within the school
adults/administration. You will remember from our evaluation of the
training materials you sent us that we objected to the image of the
enraged mother blubbering in fury and launching herself physically
across the counter at the (putative) administrator--the film took the
viewpoint of the administrator throughout. We feel the denial lies with
the school adults, not with the victim and his orher family. Certainly
converting the teenage harasser in the film into a contrite, masterful
leader of seminars on sexual harassment--in the position of offering
counseling to the very girl he had terrorized--was unconvincing to say
the least. Finally, the suggestion that the victim is in need of
counseling, rather than the perpetrator, and is in some way bringing on
the harassment is ground zero in the fight against sexual harassment at
all levels. With such experts we hardly need enemies, do we?
Linda Purrington
Title IX Advocates
lpurring@earthlink.net
Mary Jo McGrath <MJDIVA@aol.com> wrote:
>
> In research I've read over 95% of people sexually harassed do not report.
> Stated are a variety of reasons, including embarassment at having been
> victimized, fear of retaliation, and a desire to just have it all go away (a
> type of denial).......
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