We must make it possible for targets of sexual harassment to speak up by insisting on a process and a social context that respects the validity of their claims. As the Monica Lewinsky scandal jeopardized Clinton's presidency, the president's defenders not only disparaged Jones but denied that what she said Clinton had done to her was sexual harassment at all. Mink expressed her views on the opinion pages of the New York Times and through other media channels during the Jones case, but she notes that she makes no judgments regarding the veracity of Jones's claims. What's important is the fairness of the legal process to somebody who tries to avail herself of a civil rights remedy.
Sexual harassment can take different forms, from physical contact to verbal harassment to leers.
Current estimates are that close to half of all women will experience sexual harassment in some form during their working lives. It first catapulted to the forefront of the nation's attention with Anita Hill's allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. In every case, high-profile or not, political judgments are made about the veracity of the claim depending on partisan alliances, moral assumptions, and the relative power of the alleged perpetrator. Friends of harassers breed doubt. In her book, Mink charts the history of sexual harassment as a legal concept, corrects many common misconceptions about the law, and recounts her own experience of a sexual harassment grievance as a graduate student.