Friday, 2 March 2018

Sexual harassment at Holyrood

I've been reading about the harassment of women in the Scottish Parliament. 

Nicola Sturgeon says she is: 

"shocked, saddened and disappointed" to learn that 30% of women working at Holyrood have experienced sexism and/or sexual harassment and that 45% of the perpetrators are MSPs. 

Unlike Nicola, I'm neither shocked nor saddened nor disappointed. I'm incandescent with rage. Who are these men - there may also be some women among them - who, according to the Times newspaper: 

‘abuse their’power to harass and belittle female employees'?
Everyone who works at the parliament is of necessity educated and informed and they must all surely be aware that what they are doing is being scrutinised - constantly - by their colleagues and the media. So why do they harass women? 
Maybe because they can? 
Maybe it's a power thing?
Maybe because that behaviour has been allowed for centuries. Maybe because some of them still think of themselves as top dog and believe they can do what they like. Maybe because the behaviour is so ingrained, they don't even see it as a problem. And maybe journalists who work at Holyrood condone this behaviour just by not seeing it. 
If the sexist and sexual behaviour is that ingrained maybe the whole lot of them need some - what should I call it? - oh, let's call it anti-bullying training. We don't allow bullying behaviour in schools and we're trying to stamp it out in the rest of the workplace. So why should people in the Scottish Parliament be  allowed to get away with it?
It's time to grow up, people. 
I look forward to seeing what the Parliament does about this situation. The nearest to it I can remember is when the director of education in Strathclyde Region (half the population of Scotland) asked a group of us in the 1990s why more women didn't apply for promoted posts in schools. Almost all of us answered: what's the point? Men set the agenda. They determine the format of the interviews. They decide who they want - and it isn't women. They want people who look like them and will play the game. It took 15 years, but - to their credit - that group of men turned things around. The Scottish Parliament can do the same but it needs firm action by a strong leader. Over to you, Nicola Sturgeon.  
PS The formatting of this post has gone nuts - sorry!

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