18 | theceomagazine.com
Armed with a global voice and
no longer fearful that misconduct
allegations will be professional suicide,
women are lining up to lodge
complaints to legal services, HR
and crisis centres.
IT’S A GLOBAL PROBLEM
Just 24 hours after #MeToo was popularised by
actor Alyssa Milano in October last year, more
than 12 million posts trended on Facebook in
85 countries. Armed with a global voice and no
longer fearful that misconduct allegations will be
professional suicide, women are lining up to lodge
complaints to legal services, HR and crisis centres.
Complaints, ranging from one-off incidents to
serious long-term behaviour, have doubled in
Australia, with Shine Lawyers describing it as an
“unprecedented jump”, while New Zealand’s former
prime minister Helen Clark said the movement had
exposed a “very unpleasant side of New Zealand” as
sexual abuse helplines face a surge in reporting of
historic incidents.
In Asia, where sexual harassment is notoriously
underreported, reports have doubled in Singapore
and Hong Kong; however, in Malaysia, India and
China, countries where sexual harassment lacks
clear definitions, the movement has been limited
to educated women, or expats living abroad.
In Europe, reactions have varied, with countries
remaining unaffected by the campaign, and even
witnessing a backlash against it. In an open letter to
Le Monde, 100 prominent French women protested
against what they regarded as rampant censorship
by feminists.CASE STUDIES OF
MISMANAGEMENT
In a culture where hardwired harassers such as the
Harvey Weinsteins of the world were previously
protected, it’s unsurprising that women are
nonplussed by the level of harassment revealed,
an inevitability summed up best by countless posts
amended to ‘of course, #MeToo’.
While Goodear doesn’t think HR management
training needs a new curriculum, she believes the
revelations are invaluable resources.
“#MeToo has given us some excellent case studies
of mismanagement. The reality is that HR is a tough
gig, there is very little in this profession that is black
and white and it’s only going to get greyer,” she says.
“It’s that strategic aspect of HR, that grey area, that
requires some high-level knowledge, skills and
professional behaviour.