Edited by Laura J. Shepherd
Sexual Harassment, the Abuse of Power and the Crisis of Leadership
"Superstar" Harassers and how to Stop Them
James K. Beggan
James K. Beggan
This chapter considers the role of emotions in understanding and preventing sexual harassment. Men tend to regret failing to act on a sexual opportunity more than the regret the transient embarrassment associated with being rejected for acting on what is actually an unwanted approach. Despite their widespread use, existing training programs to prevent sexual harassment are generally not effective. One reason is that they tend to motivate compliance by the fear of lawsuits or termination, which may be ineffective if potential harassers view defiance of the threat as a way to demonstrate courage. Rather than focusing on fear, training methods that focus on shame could be more effective; however, it is important to consider the nature of the induced shame. Social movements such as the #MeToo hashtag might be counterproductive to the degree that their efforts to induce shame lead harassers to withdraw or to attack their attackers.
New Parents in Europe
Work-Care Practices, Gender Norms and Family Policies
Edited by Daniela Grunow and Marie Evertsson
Kate Ogg and Susan Harris Rimmer
For feminist international law scholars, practitioners and advocates, the first two decades of the new Millennium have produced moments of elation and disenchantment. It has been the best and worst of times, in the truly Dickensian sense. With respect to international law victories for women, there have been successful campaigns to further entrench women’s rights in international and regional instruments. For example, in 2002 the Rome Statute came into force, which includes sexual violence in the definition of a crime against humanity. The Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence came into force in 2003 and 2014 respectively. Women’s achievements in the international sphere have been recognised and celebrated: since the turn of this century, seven women have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for work relating to peace-building, democracy and human rights. International institutions have demonstrated greater awareness of and commitment to women’s rights and empowerment. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the United Nation’s (UN) eight resolutions on women, peace and security adopted between 2000 and 2015. Another institutional highlight was the creation of UN Women in 2010 – an organisation dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. In some quarters of the academic community, there has been optimism about feminist international legal scholarship’s growth and potential for influence. Yet alongside these and other successes, the first two decades of the new millennium have also provided reasons for despair.
Sima Samar
Ladies and Gentlemen! First of all, I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me to this important programme, and it is indeed a pleasure for me to speak in this timely programme. Secondly, I would like to mention that I am not a lawyer, and do not even have an academic background in any sector. I am simply a medical doctor and have lived in a male-dominated society that is poverty driven and is in a continued conflict situation. I have experienced discrimination based on my sex, ethnicity and the religion that my family practised. In order to survive such a situation, I chose and continued to fight for equality and human rights in Afghanistan. My talk today is based on my personal experience in a country where human rights abuse and violation is our daily scenario, sometimes even unnoticed. Afghanistan is a country that suffers from four decades of war; almost the majority of the powerful countries in the world are somehow involved in the conflict. Different regimes have come and gone, each one of them violated the human rights of the people, particularly the rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups including the rights of minorities.