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Did you know that teens are more likely to face a sexual predator on the job than on the Internet (a "danger" that's been exposed as mostly hype)? This Friday, Feb. 20, at 8:30 p.m., PBS's public-affairs show NOW will broadcast a collaboration with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University (where I work), investigating the sexual harassment of teens in their after-school, weekend, and summer jobs. Here's a preview. The show is eye-opening—and (despite the fact that I'm in it) well worth watching for anyone whose young son or daughter might someday get a job.
Many people think "sexual harassment" refers to aggressive flirting or sexual horseplay on the job. But to get into court, harassment has to be intrusive, aggressive, and nearly endless—predatory or nearly so. And few teens (girls or boys) know what to do when a supervisor begins to talk ceaselessly and intimately about their bodies and lives, discussing sex acts in detail, propositioning mercilessly, pinning them in a car or stockroom, and groping, grabbing, stalking, threatening, or sexually assaulting them.
The collaboration grows out of research I did a few years ago, which resulted in a Good Housekeeping article with this blog post's title. Maria Hinojosa, PBS NOW senior correspondent, takes that research and runs with it, talking to young women who were unprepared for what they faced at work. The show tracks these young women's legal journeys, and examines how sexual harassment affects an estimated hundreds of thousands of teens across the country—many of whom don't know how to report workplace abuse, or even how to recognize when their bosses cross the line.
I hope you all will watch ... and we can discuss. (Especially you, Susannah, since you and I had an exchange about the subject back in January. I would love to know what you think.)