A recent survey in Australia – which has strong anti-bullying laws – found that 1 in 3 Australian lawyers say they were harassed – 77% say they didn’t report it.
This is stunning but also not all that surprising. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/more-than-a-third-of-australian-lawyers-sexually-harassed-at-work-survey-finds
I know of a lawyer – who was a diversity and labor lawyer. It was literally her job to help people deal with harassment claims and she was harassed out of the law firm she worked for.
The laws – aren’t even working for lawyers and that’s because all the laws do is provide remedies for people who are victims – but only if they can prove it or have the money to hire a lawyer. And guess what – most law firms – represent the company – not the person claiming to be a victim? Why – because that’s who has the money to pay for lawyers.
We need to take a different approach – because the approach we are taking – isn’t working. Instead, we need to start teaching defensive skills.
Employment lawyers – if you don’t know what actually works to make unwanted behavior stop – I’ve got news for you. Telling someone it’s illegal – doesn’t stop behavior. Shocker, I know. What does work is a behavior modification program. Contact me or take one of my courses for more information.
Also – I partner with the Humanist Legal Society – to off CLE – on this topic – check it out – https://www.humanistlegalsociety.org/cle