Almost a Year After #MeToo, There’s Still Further to Go 

It’s been almost a year since the current national conversation about sexual harassment and assault first kicked off with a wave of complaints against movie producer Harvey Weinstein. What started as a reckoning in Hollywood has eventually stretched to encompass workplaces in every industry—from government to food service.  In the months since #MeToo went viral, thousands of women and men have risen up and spoken out about their experiences with sexual violence. The sheer mass of the disclosures has helped to further understanding of the pervasiveness of the problem and of the different ways sexual harassment can take place. 

This continuing dialogue has also empowered and enlarged the community of advocates, of which Women Employed is a part, who have been working for years to shine a light on the wide-spread impact of sexual harassment—especially for women whose low-paid jobs make them especially vulnerable. The movement, begun in 2006 by Tarana Burke, has certainly shifted the public discourse about what has long been taking place, often with impunity, in our workplaces and beyond. What remains to be seen, however, is how our institutional and cultural norms will truly address the issues which have been brought to light. 

In a survey conducted by Harvard Business Review this summer, only 16% of the working women and 14% of men agreed that their workplace “has introduced new policies, procedures, or systems that make it easier for people to speak up when they have concerns.” And though the majority of state legislatures across the country indicated they would make changes to their sexual harassment policies at the start of 2018, in a recent follow-up by the Associated Press only half had actually implemented any. It’s clear there’s still room for action to create workplaces and institutions that ensure safety, inclusion and dignity. 

Employees have been leading the efforts to make real change, and public and private institutions would do well to not only respond to those employees, but to take a proactive look at their policies, practices and culture to guide actions that ensure their workplaces are built on mutual respect. Thanks to the work of Unite Here, a hospitality union, and other advocates for hotel housekeepers, the American Hotel and Lodging Association just announced that its members—including Wyndham, Marriott and other major chains—will implement measures to address harassment and improve safety. Innovative employers like Homeroom, a mac and cheese restaurant in Oakland, CA, responded to employee complaints by implementing a color-coded alert system to protect staff from abusive customers that has been so effective, the restaurant has reported a virtual elimination of harassing behavior. Necessary resources like the Times Up Legal Defense Fund have also been developed to give legal assistance to those who’ve experienced harassment or related retaliation in the workplace. So, the needle is moving. 

There is still ample opportunity to strengthen sexual harassment protections at the state and federal level which, for the most part, only cover employers of a certain size. This leaves domestic workers and farm workers unprotected (80% of female farm workers report being sexually harassed on the job). Employers can also address harassment by implementing the promising practices detailed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace’s 2016 report. Tackling sexual harassment also requires a comprehensive approach to addressing other kinds of workplace discrimination that may accompany it, such as the wage gap between men and women or racial discrimination, as reported by Ford auto plant workers.

Finally, there’s the role we all have in confronting the cultural and organizational norms that make sexual harassment such a widespread occurrence. That’s why Women Employed has developed resources outlining how to recognize sexual harassment when it is happening to you or someone else, how to intervene if necessary, and how to find recourse within your workplace or with enforcement agencies. We have an opportunity – indeed, a mandate – to take action in ensuring that every workplace is safe, inclusive and equitable.
 

Sharmili Majmudar is Interim CEO at Women Employed, a non-profit organization advocating for economic equity for working women and their families. Majmudar was formerly the executive director of Rape Victim Advocates and has 25 years of experience in advocacy against gender-based violence.

When Women Thrive, the Stock of Society Rises: Using Wall Street to Power Change

When I joined YWCA Metropolitan Chicago as CEO five years ago, after two decades in management consulting and accounting, I saw opportunity to leverage the business community to expand our mission to eliminate racism and empower women. However, as I got deeper into the work, it became clear that there was a popular narrative that if you were a non-profit you were “doing good” but if you were a business or investor not only were you possibly not doing good but in some instances you were “doing bad.” The penance for the latter was to grant, donate or volunteer and leave it to the non-profits to fight on the front lines to right the wrongs. 

The bottom line, however, is that we need all of the resources in our economy “doing good” if we want to create true change. 

Thankfully, that change is coming. Recent polls find that 90% of consumers expect companies to do more than just make a profit and the majority of investors – including over 80% of female investors - want their investments to have an impact. This is shown in the rapid growth of socially responsible investing to over $9 trillion in the United States and $22 trillion worldwide (Source: US SIF), with a focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. 

Recognizing YWCA’s expertise as the “Social” in ESG, we partnered with non-profit investment manager Impact Shares to create a new investment product to bridge our social cause to the capital markets to help accelerate our work. As of August 27, 2018 through the Impact Shares YWCA Women’s Empowerment Exchange Traded Fund (NYSE: WOMN), investors now can tap into YWCA’s 160 years of experience advocating for women’s issues to invest in companies with strong practices and policies in support of women’s empowerment and gender equality.  Using the gender equity research of Equileap and expertise of index provider Morningstar, WOMN is the first of its kind ETF that includes stocks of 200 corporations that score highest in their sectors on 19 criteria that support women’s empowerment and gender equality. The criteria range from not only women in leadership and pay equity but also workplace safety, flexible work options, and supplier diversity.

There is no shortage of research linking gender diversity and fair and safe workplaces with strong financial performance. Increased productivity, innovation, higher employee retention and satisfaction are all factors directly impacting a company’s bottom line. But the goal of WOMN is not only to have an impact that can be seen in portfolios. WOMN also creates a value to the investor and their communities through the ripple effect of both improved corporate behavior and practices as well as revenue for YWCA to continue providing services to strengthen our communities. Because Impact Shares is also a non-profit, it will donate the net advisory fees back to YWCA to power the work that we do on a daily basis. At the same time, WOMN will provide us a means by which to actively engage companies and the general public in a dynamic discussion on the importance of the criteria, how corporate behavior can directly impact our work, and ways to truly move the needle on these issues. 

We are hopeful that WOMN will provide us with the resources not only to prepare women for the marketplace through stronger services, but also the tools to prepare the marketplace for women to succeed because, when women thrive, the stock of our entire society rises too.

Dorri McWhorter is currently the CEO YWCA Metropolitan Chicago with the mission to eliminate racism and empower women. McWhorter has an accounting background and a former partner at a Top 10 public accounting firm.

Contact: 
Dorri McWhorter
dorri.mcwhorter@ywcachicago.org
YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
1 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 1150
Chicago, IL 60602
Business Phone: 312.762.2751
Cell Phone: 773.671.0319