Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/files-sexual-harassment-suit-article-1.1374386
This article caught my attention because so few stories like this actually exist. by this I mean that more often than not, women fail to report sexual harassment in the workplace. In this particular case, a female police officer, Jazmina Inserillo, reported her lieutenant for sexual harassment after several inappropriate gestures and comments, including one in which he accuses her of not liking “white guys.”
As if sexual harassment wasn’t enough, he drew race into the equation. This demonstrates the intersectionality a Black woman can face in the workplace. Perhaps another element to this story which makes it more appealing is that it takes place in law enforcement, the very institution we look to for justice.
Jazmia was further victimized following her filing of the report. She was sent for psychological evaluation for anxiety and after refusing the rehab recommended to her by the department psychologist, was suspended for thirty days. Furthermore, she is facing a departmental hearing for disobeying said order.
Jazmia claims that seven other women, including a Sargent, have confided in her that they too have been sexually harassed by Lieutenant Margolis (and yet none of them reported it). Marolis’s was docked ten vacation days and ordered to attend a “professionalism in the workplace” seminar as punishment.
I believe this story is, unfortunately, like so many others in that the system fails to provide justice for the victimized woman. Though the case is far from over, Jazmia’s treatment thus far demonstrates the patriarchal structure of most workplaces, particularly those which are more masculine in nature (as policing is), and women’s reluctance to report sexual harassment in the workplace.
Do you feel that justice has been or is being served in this circumstance? If Jazmia is right in claiming that she is just one of his many victims, what reasons do you believe these women have for remaining silent about their abuse?