Singled out at work

I used to work for a law firm. I was the only female employee, and I was forced to work off the books even though I didn't want to. This gave them far too much power over me, including the ability to hire or fire me on a whim.

My boss was hardly ever in the office when I was, but he forced me to work long hours without a lunch break. The head of the firm frequently dropped pencils and files so that I would have to bend over to pick them up. He talked about how he liked much younger women and how he and his wife had an open relationship frequently when we were at the firm alone together late at night. Even though I made it clear to him that I was not interested, he would frequently talk to clients about my physical appearance or what I was wearing. I started wearing pants and high necked shirts only, but he continued to talk about me in a sexual way.

I later quit because I could not put up with the harassment and the unethical things that they did to their clients.

--Submitted by: Lauren

5 minutes of fear

This past summer, I had to walk 5 minutes to a St Louis metro link station and back to be able to get to work and back home. Weekly, I was honked at, whistled at, and given the hand telephone-sign to “call me.” Every day, I walked this 5 minutes back and forth from work in fear. I often talked on my cell phone thinking that it would be a deterrent from this harassment—it wasn’t.

--Anonymous submission

Welcome to the speakout!

This project is being launched in light of International Women's Day: March 8th. It aims to empower those who encounter sexual harassment as well as raise awareness about sexual harassment. Speak out!