Introduction
Sexual harassment ranges from unwelcomed verbal transgressions to sexual abuse. Women face sexual harassment daily. However, they prefer to stay silent about it since they fear to lose their jobs or being segregated (Zambas, 2020). Often at times, they blame themselves for having provoked this type of behavior from the abuser. The sexual harassment cases are rampant in male-dominated industries such as politics, Hollywood, and academics. This paper will focus on a study on Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse scandals that made headlines.
Harvey Weinstein, a former film producer of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company (TWC), abused his powerful post to harass women at his workplace. A list of more than a hundred incidents of sexual harassment, assault, and rape within 35 years by Weinstein was released in November 2017. Amongst his victims were Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie. According to the women's reports, he would invite upcoming actresses and models into his office or hotel room to discuss their careers. Later, Weinstein would demand sex so that he could help them build up their careers (Dwyer, 2020). In case the aspiring actress or model turned him down, he would have her removed from the project.
Weinstein had friends in influential positions that helped him conceal these behaviors. He built a ‘wall of invulnerability’ around him by associating with people in powerful posts. Whenever a victim attempted to complain to the police, the case would be dismissed—an example of Ambra Gutierrez's scandal of being touched inappropriately by Weinstein that she reported to the NYPD. The District attorney dismissed the case claiming that the proof was insufficient while tabloids displayed her as an opportunist.
Conclusion
After the New York Times reported on Weinstein's sexual assault allegations, in 2017, he was dismissed from TWC and was expelled from professional associations. In May 2018, he was charged with rape and assault then later was sentenced to a jail term of 23 years. The New York Times was rewarded for covering the Weinstein scandal. The incident has triggered multiple similar accusations globally against powerful men in various industries and caused their downfall. Additionally, it has led to many women opening up about their sexual assault and harassment experiences on social platforms.
