~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE WASH RAG published by Women Against Sexual Harassment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Available on-line ASAP at http://www.washrag.org/ along with earlier issues subscribe by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomenAgainstSexualHarassmentNational and joining the group. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Issue 9, Number 2 May, 2001 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Truck Driver Accuses Industry of SH Nurse Harassed in Deleware Arizona Jail Cam Good, Bad News From India Remarks About Indfia Ventura Revisited Yet Again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Truck Driver Accuses Industry of Harassment and Discrimination ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These e-mails from Lisa Adams tell the story: Can you please help me? I have been a professional over the road truck driver since 95. I have two federal suits pending against trucking companies, one for harassment and one for retaliation. I am trying to expose the epidemic in my industry and the special obstacles faced by women in my profession who complain or take action against the harassment. I have been given until 4/27/01 to hire an attorney and respond to a motion for summary judgement in the harassment case. Beaumont, Texas is not a large town and the attorneys here are not that experienced in this. Most employment attorneys want a consultation fee and a several thousand dollar retainer. I am hoping to secure funding somewhere and possibly leads on a good attorney in Texas. I have decided to go to the media for help in this, but I am reluctant because the company knows they can’t attack the message, so they are going all out for the messenger. I am not "suit happy" as they characterize me, it’s just that the situation is so severe in the trucking industry, and within the management. They say "it goes with the territory". I don’t think most women see the monster fully reveal itself until they challenge it. I have a very strong case, and the employer has a long, well known pattern of this behavior. They are very upset at my effort to depose the owner and desperate to prevent it. He is actually on premises. Can you please direct me in my search for a lawyer who will take a case of this kind on a contingency? And again: I am a truck driver and I intend to expose the culture of Trucking, because that's what it is, not just an "industry", and my experiences of the last five and a half years trying to fight the harassers. I want to talk about the problems with the Federal Court system and the EEOC and the failure to do anything to address the unique circumstances encountered by women drivers in trying to sue the companies. They do not take into account the geographic, venue, jurisdiction boundaries etc. in these cases. Also, the utter ignorance and complicity on part of attorneys. That may be a harsh statement, but I have found them to be very uninformed and buying into many of the myths perpetrated by the other side. It extremely difficult to even get an appointment with most of them. It is industry wide and systematic. I believe the American Trucking Association could be held accountable. I ordered their catalog after I called them. They distribute all types of information and forms to the cos. on almost every "employment" issue, but any mention of equal treatment or sexual harassment is conspicuously absent in all of their products and lit. They have workmen's comp, OSHA etc, but nothing at all on s/h or discrimination. There is so much discrimination on the part of truckstops as well. A "truckstop" is part of the drivers "workplace" and the companies could demand the equal treatment of their drivers. I'm trying to persuade an attorney I know to bring a class action against a truckstop franchise. Lisa Indeed, most women trying to bring sexual harassment suits have lost their job and thus are in need of financial aid. The greatest weakness in the laws to deal with discrimination and harassment is the lack of funding for enforcement. A woman who is out of work is in no position to hire a lawyer. The laws need to be changed in this respect. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nurse Harassed in Delaware ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the benefits of editing a newsletter like this is getting communication like this from Teresa Dressler: Thanks for your web site. I am a victim of sexual harassment. I am a nurse in the Emergency room, and was sexually harassed for over two years by a male charge nurse. Due to manipulation and my own lack of knowledge and my weakness, I eventually succumbed to his demands in the hopes of making a more bearable workplace. There was not a lot of training on the subject, and I felt I had no support. Our relationship ended with me filing an offensive touching complaint against him. Following that, I attempted to reach a place of peace so that we could both enjoy a stress-free environment at work (the ER is stressful enough). The hostility became unbearable and he began accusing me of things. I snapped and called his house and left VERY angry messages telling him to stop, and I was planning to go to human resources the following day to report the hostility and the past sexual harassment and request a transfer out of the ER. BIG MISTAKE. He took that message to the police, and in retaliation, had me charged with HARASSING HIM! And now I have to deal with that! I am getting an attorney. I can hardly afford it, but I need one. I did turn in a letter to HR today requesting a transfer, complaining about the slander, and the sexual harassment. Now I am scared to death. The policy at work states no retaliation will come from them for my report. But, I have no proof of what he did, as he always did this with no witnesses. So now can he sue me? So my life is in limbo, I am anxious, and fighting depression. I am interviewing elsewhere, but I hate having to leave. His slander has caused my co-workers to not associate with me, and I am very miserable and alone right now. Thank you for your time. I would like to hear any information you could offer me, and support. I really need it. My name is Teresa Dressler. The harasser is Edward S. Morris, RN, BSN. The hospital is Milford Memorial Hospital, Milford, Delaware which is affiliated with Bayhealth Medical Center. Please feel free to publish. And later: I just hung up the phone with a former nurse in our ER that I was wondering whether or not she went through the same thing, and she said she did. She told me she would write a letter for me to give to HR and my attorney. I can only pray she will follow through and do it. It will help so much. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bizarre Arizona Jail Cam ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am somewhat jaded in the area of sexual harassment. I rarely doubt the stories I am told by victims or advocates. But I confess this time, I was shocked. Humanitas, an organization concerned about the treatment of prisoners around the world, sent me information about jail cameras in a jail in Arizona. They claimed that the cameras were accessible from www.cops.com, and included cameras which showed female prisoners only using toilet facilities including changing sanitary napkins, masturbating in their beds, and changing clothes. I did go to the Cops site, and followed the links to "jailcam". I admit to not accessing the cameras themselves because I have an aversion to activity of this type. Some of the quotes I have gleaned from his e-mails are as follows: "This time however our victims are not Russian or Asian, but American citizens and residents, some were being arrested and used in what we take to be a blatantly pornographic venture directed by a certain Sheriff Arpaio in Maricop County, Arizona. It is indeed a very Peculiar state of affairs." "...the jail house broadcasting activities of Sheriff Arpaio were so revolting that they were endorsed or promoted or referenced by a wide range of services some of which were promoting video material of just about every depravity that might be feared or imagined. Pornographic services advising people how to obtain pornographic images of young people also endorsed his venture." He quotes Judge Donna Hamm (Retired), 139 East Encanto Drive Tempe, State of Arizona, United States of America (480) 966 8116 middleround(bleep)qwest.net: "In many respects we see this as a blatant case of using women and girls against their will for pornography and of distributing the same pornography internationally, the fact that he is also ruining the reputation of the United States overseas is merely a related but important aspect to the same abuses. The sooner you intervene in my opinion the sooner that damage might be remedied to the extent it can be remedied." I was so incensed by the situation, that I sent an e-mail to the site telling them that in my opinion, nothing could be gained from placing cameras to show the intimate movements of imprisoned females (many of them not criminals, humanitas claims that after interviewing women released, they have yet to find a single woman guilty of even prostitution) is the sexual titillation of a bunch of perverts. Interestingly, within 24 hours, the e-mail service I sent it from went down, and for a week, I was not even able to log on to get my e-mail, and when I did, everything that had been there was gone, and for another week, when I logged on, I had a message that I had new mail but when I went to read it, there was nothing there. I have since gotten one e-mail, where previously, I was getting 2-3 e-mails a day. I find it hard to believe that this is a coincidence. In any case, the last e-mail from humanitas reports that "Middle Ground Prison Reform of Tempe seeks $50,000 each for 55,000 inmates who were booked into the Madison Street Jail since security cameras were linked to the Internet in July - nearly $3 billion." This is such good news and I can only wish them the best of luck in giving Sheriff Arpaio in Maricop County, Arizona a lesson in the economics of exploitation. The tragedy is that news of this comes not from NBC or the New York Times, but from a non-profit organization in Ireland. For shame. As a matter of fact, I have viewed Cops on many occasions, and because John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted, whose son was kidnapped by a pedophile, has appeared on the program, I am very surprised. In a telephone conversation, humanitas claims that the reason the US lost its seat on the UN Human Rights Commission is because of its abuse of women and children. The American media certainly has never picked up on this, or perhaps they are embarrassed to. Maybe that letter I sent to Amnesty International when I was being intentional exposed to chlorine fumes by a former employer had some effect. I certainly hope so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bad News, Good News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From time to time, I get critical e-mails and here is one: Women have destroyed our society. They have ruined male-female relations. They have disrupted mother nature. And they must be stopped before hetero sex becomes illegal, and it will. Men will no longer be able to relate to women. Men have now become uneasy around women for fear of wrong doing. Women file false lawsuits against men daily. They have abused their resources. And since they can't make proper decisions, their rights must be taken away. They've made the impression that the sins of men are punishable and the sins of women are not. Women have slapped God in the face and recrucified his son who was once a man. Bryan Patrick Sexton This is somewhat amazing, since there must be a hundred coutries in the world who would like some American women to come and wreck their country. I have tried to confirm this, but have to rely on something I heard somewhere, which was that Sweden, which statistics rate as having the highest living standard in the world, has more women than men in its Parliament. Certainly, they do have a King, but like England, most of the day to day running of the country depends on elected officials. Perhaps Mr. Sexton can come up with some explanation for that! Well, just when you think you have struck out, along comes an e-mail that leaves you misty-eyed with emotion. I received a kind e-mail from a gentleman who referred me to his web page, KURTBONNYELBE(bleep)WORLDNET.ATT.NET http://members.tripod.com/~argussongs/A_Message_To_Men.html. I leave it to you to visit. Enjoy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From India -- Women’s Issues: A Glimpse by Hasina Kharbhih ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The Year of Women’s Empowerment" -- That is how the year 2001 is being observed. The stress on women’s empowerment has germinated from the realization that social as well as developmental returns will be there if women are developed and empowered. In India, it was the freedom movement that marked a new era in the awakening of women. But today, after more than half a century of attaining freedom, women in India still struggle for better existence, better conditions at work and status in society. Article 51A of the Constitution of Indian enjoins every citizen of India to remove practices derogatory to the dignity of women. The Constitution does not allow segregation of the basis of gender. It also enjoins us to minimize and finally eliminate differences by providing women with equality, quality and access in educational facilities, that is offering and creating conditions for success in life for girls and women. Women’s education is now taken as a human right and developmental imperative. Women have a right to demand and get equal opportunities for education. Education for girls is being stressed on grounds of social justice and also due to the realization that educated women can greatly contribute to the developmental processes and help to accelerate social transformation. In the educational landscape, the gender gap is visible in enrollment, drop-out-rate, urban rural ratio, number of women teachers, literacy rate and success-in-the examination percentage. As per the 1991 Census, Meghalaya returns the literacy rate of 53.12% for men and 44.85% for women. The literacy rates as per National Sample Survey Organization (53rd Round), January-December 1997 for Meghalaya are 79% for men and 74% for women. Low participation of girls at the elementary stage of education, particularly in the rural areas is much evident. As per the UNESCO reports, among the four South Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, it is India that has the largest number of out-of-school girls and illiterate women. If basic education, UNESCO felt, can be provided to girls and women, these four countries would show a major leap forward in their development. A number of schemes and incentives have been initiated for the promotion of girls’ education, some of which are midday meals, supply of free textbooks and notebooks, uniforms, special hostels and scholarships. Despite the various incentives, girls’ enrollment is yet to make headway. The National Sample Survey -- 52nd Round (1995-1996) indicates that 37% of rural girs of age 6+ to 10+ were never enrolled in schools. To improve enrollment of girls in schools, they need to be freed from the shackles of hearth and home. To free the girls from baby-sitting their own siblings and the children of other mothers, crèches and day-care centers will have to be opened in larger numbers and not in a sporadic way. In 1993, the Constitution of India was amended to provide for reservation of one-third of the seats for women in the elected village level and civic bodies, empowering women to participate in the political process at the grassroots level. But the women elected as Panchayat Presidents are, in many cases, not allowed to function as they should. Cases have been reported where they have been humiliated and shamed because of their positions. The Bill to legislate 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislatures has already been introduced in the Parliament, but no consensus has yet been reached. Under-representation in the Parliament as well as the State Legislatures is glaring. In Meghalaya, only 3 Constituencies out of 60 have returned women candidates. The picture is grim when we consider the fact that the women of Meghalaya are known to enjoy a higher status in life compared to those of the rest of the country. If women are to forge ahead, we need women in the decision making bodies to stand for us, to take up women’s issues and to see that development programs are initiated with women as beneficiaries. Women have been presumed to be weaker physically as well as mentally by society. This has led many a woman to bear violence in multiple forms silently within the four walls of their homes. Even in Meghalaya, homes are not free of domestic violence, with consequential effects on women and children. Family violence is a cognizable offence but very few women take advantage of it due to ignorance of the legal rights and provisions. The Draft Bill drawn up by the Lawyer’s Collective states: "Verbal and mental abuse includes insults, ridicule, humiliation, name-calling especially with regard to women who do not have a child or particularly a male child." Once the Bill becomes a civil law, it will go a long way in giving protection to women against domestic violence. The national Commission for Women was set up as a national apex statutory level body to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women. The Commission is empowered to investigate cases of atrocities against women and deprivation of women’s rights. If State Commissions are set up all over the country to work in tandem with the National Commission, women have a reason for high hopes and expectations. Another aspect of social life that is rearing its ugly head is marital discord. Cases of divorce, legal separation and separations have increased so much that jokes have come up like "Till divorce do us part" in place of "Till death do us part." Sacrosanct institutions like marriage are open to bantering and being frowned upon. It is reported that during the year 2000, the number of divorce cases in Assam rose to around 9,600. The grounds for divorce range from adultery, bigamy, physical and mental torture, desertion to maladjustment. Today’s strenuous life has made partners intolerant towards each other. More women have learnt to be more assertive, making the institution of marriage vulnerable. Such a situation affects children, affects society, adding to social problems. To prevent such situations, compromises, adjustments, attitudes that are in sync with modern-day society are called for. Family counseling centers, family courts, family welfare centers and churches have a big role to play in bringing about reconciliation between husband and wife keeping the family intact, if not for anything else, for the sake of the children. Despite constitutional safeguards and other administrative measures in favor of women, working women can still end up exploited. Women can be exploited at the work place because of women’s illiteracy and lack of education. Exploitation exists where salary and wages as well as working conditions are concerned, with no platform to voice grievances, and no place to discuss the effects of work on their family and health. Sexual harassment at the workplace has not been reported more often simply because of fear on the part of the victims. Women need protection against this. Another face of women comes from the development of the women caught in the flesh trade. Such problems come to the attention of the public only when they reach considerable dimensions and too late to do anything. In Meghalaya, traditional and customary laws protect women to a considerable extent as regard to inheritance, outside exploitation and social injustice. Women and girls are not denied access to education, health and employment facilities. Meghalaya rarely witnesses dowry deaths, female infanticide and other social evils and practices. This should not be a cause for us to rejoice, but should serve us with a reminder that we have more energy and time to tackle other problems, to take action to pre-empt other social evils trying to have a grip on our society. "Blessed among women" was the spontaneous greeting with which, says the Bible, Elizabeth received her cousin Mary at her doorstep. "You are blessed", is the message to us today, the women of Meghalaya, who are educated, who enjoy higher social status, who have the wherewithal , to be the voice for the voiceless, the power for the powerless, the strength for the weak and the less fortunate. Hasina Kharbhih solicits comments on her article. Her e-mail address is hkharbhih(bleep)yahoo.com, snail mail is Riatsamthiah, Shillong 1 793001, Meghalaya, India. More information about her is available on the WASH International List at http://www.washrag.org/. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remarks about India ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The stories in the American media about the dowry killings and female infanticide in India have been troubling to me, as I have had a few occasions when I worked with or for or met men from India, and I found them to be polite and gentlemanly. I decided to pursue the matter further for my own peace of mind. I feel fortunate to have found a woman from India who is knowledgeable about the status of women in her own state or province, Meghalaya, and it seems that at least there, these problems are not major. That is a reminder that India is a huge, highly populated country, and that the problems in one area might not exist in other parts, making the statistics for the whole country much less shocking. It was also of great satisfaction to me to find that the women in India are aware of the problems, and that they, and the government, are attempting to improve the status of women there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jessie Ventura revisited yet again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It has occurred to me over the past few days, while working on the newsletter, that if one woman in 1008 was murdered due to intimate violence in 1996, that over the lifetime of a woman, the probability that she would be murdered due to intimate violence would be 60 times as big. I figured that assuming a lifetime of 60 years, the first year there was a one in 1000 chance, the second year a one in 999 chance, and on up to the last year a one in 940 chance or .001x1000 + .001x999 + .001x998 + . . . + .001x940 or a total of around 58 women in 1000 would be murdered by an intimate in a woman’s lifetime. That figures out to be a chance of 1 in 17 that a woman will be murdered in her lifetime by an intimate. That is staggering. Admittedly, it has been 45 years since I took statistics, and although I have used some of my other math, I haven’t used it much since. I have gone over the figures over and over, and I can’t come up with any others. It puts an even more insidious face on the problem of intimate abuse in the US. Forget about infanticide in India, worry about the murder of women in general in the US. In truth, if Jessie Ventura had kept his trap shut, I would never have investigated these figures. I guess I owe him a debt of gratitude for being so insensitive about the abuse of women in the area of sexual harassment. He has certainly forced me to open my eyes on the subject, I hope these figures do the same for others. The truth is that I don’t know of any woman who has been killed in an intimate abuse case. But then, there are thousands of women I have known in my life who I haven’t seen in 20 to 50 years. I only am in touch with two girls I went to grade school and high school with, none I was in the Navy with, went to college with or with whom I worked in California. The women I associate with are all feminists, and would not tolerate abuse. I had heard that two of the girls I had gone to grade school with had committed suicide, but in a conservative community, spouse abuse might be covered up as suicides, and I ran into the unusual name of another in a medical file I was proofreading, and she was obviously being abused as she had a broken bones and injuries yearly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RESOURCES: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sexual Harassment Publications and Seminars: Quinlan Publishing Co. 23 Drydock Avenue, Boston, MA 02210-2387 1-800-229-2084, Steph(bleep)quinlan.com Sexual Harassment Publications: Learning Publications, Inc. Box 1338, Dept DC11, Holmes Beach, FL 34218-1338 1-800-222-1525, Info(bleep)learningpublications.com Domestic Violence Program Evaluation, Domestic Violence Coordinating Council 8990 West Dodge Road #205, Omaha, NE 68114 (402) 398-9938, dvcc(bleep)mitec.net Sexual Assault and Harassment on Campus Conference, Safe Schools Coalition 5351 Gulf Drive, P. O. Box 1338, Holmes Beach, FL 34218-1338 10800-537-4903, ssc(bleep)tampabay.rr.com Domestic Violence Report, "A Considerable Service: An Advocate's Introduction to Domestic Violence and the Military" by Christine Hansen, Executive Director, The Miles Foundation. Civic Research Institute, Inc at 609-683-4450 or The Miles Foundation, Inc. at 203-270-0688. Article on domestic violence related murder and suicide in the military at http://www.pilotonline.com/peninsula/pn0403ded.html WE’RE ON THE WEB http://www.washrag.org/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This on-line version of THE WASHRAG is being sent to you free. A print version can be obtained by subscribing. In the US, send $10.00 to Women Against Sexual Harassment, P. O. Box 164, Canton, SD 57013-0164. Outside the US, send $20.00 to join. For a sample issue, send a #10 sized SASE. For a Publisher98 print module, e-mail ta-shi(bleep)dtgnet.com E-mail comments can be sent to ta_shi(bleep)dtgnet.com. If you know of anyone you think might be interested, just send us their e-mail address and we will put them on our e-mail mailing list. If you do not wish to receive further copies of this newsletter, indicate your preference to ta_shi(bleep)dtgnet.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ copyright 2001 Tesseract Publications, P. O. Box 164 Canton, SD 57013-0164 (605) 987-5070.