"Well, At Least Look!" He Pulled His Pants Down And Showed Me An Erect Penis. " - Journalists About Harassment

"Well, At Least Look!" He Pulled His Pants Down And Showed Me An Erect Penis. " - Journalists About Harassment
"Well, At Least Look!" He Pulled His Pants Down And Showed Me An Erect Penis. " - Journalists About Harassment

Video: "Well, At Least Look!" He Pulled His Pants Down And Showed Me An Erect Penis. " - Journalists About Harassment

Video: "Well, At Least Look!" He Pulled His Pants Down And Showed Me An Erect Penis. " - Journalists About Harassment
Video: Danila Poperechny: "SPECIAL fo KIDS" | Stand-up, 2020. 2024, March
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The editorial staff of the Svobodnye Novosti news agency collected stories of Saratov journalists who were harassed by people in positions of power - their leaders, advertisers, officials and interviewees.

On March 6, an hour-long women's strike against harassment, discrimination against women at work and unequal pay will take place in the world The trade union of journalists and media workers also supported this action.

Why are we talking about this? We believe that sexual violence is unacceptable, even if it is not a criminal offense of rape. Many people consider harassment a kind of "compliment." But this is not a compliment or an achievement. Harassment can sometimes cause deep psychological trauma. By talking about this, we want to make the world around us a little safer.

There is a debate in society as to whether bullying at work is an exclusive problem for women. We invited everyone to tell about their experiences, but among the many responses from women, there was one male story. We believe that no one - neither men nor women - should feel unsafe at work, so we included our colleague's story in the general story. The names of the women have been changed at their request.

Daria, 37 years old

“It was a rather unpleasant incident. I was doing material about bankruptcy trustees and went to an interview with one of them. I was 24 years old then, and he was 55-60 years old. You know, maybe this nasty look when it seems that fat is dripping from the mustache, from the cheeks, from the eyes. Directly large drops. And the tongue fell out, and the breathing was heavy, thick.

We talked with him on the case for half an hour. After the material came out, he called me, invited me to nature. I said no . And then my friend told me that her husband, also a journalist, had gone to this guy before me. They drank vodka, ate (at the expense of the manager), and he said to him:

"When a journalist comes to me, I immediately imagine how she sucks at me."

Then I was shaking from this."

Maria, 31 years old

“12 years ago, when I was studying at the university, I went to the local editorial office - I wanted to try to get published. The editor told me to come after the end of the working day - at seven or eight in the evening. I came to chat. At first everything was fine, and then something strange began to happen. The editor said, “If you smoke, you can smoke. Or maybe you would like a cup of coffee?”At first he talked about work, and then smoothly moved on to the questions, do I have a boyfriend. Said, "Let's assume you don't have a boyfriend." He did not directly say "let's sleep," but he theorized in an interesting way. I said, "Yeah, thanks," and left as soon as possible.

I was shocked, I don't even remember what I answered. I came out of him in a fog. The most interesting thing is that a couple of years later I saw him at the primaries of United Russia, where he said that family is very important."

Marina, 46 years old

“The situation I'm going to talk about is going on right now. I am sure that sociability is the main tool of a journalist, usually I quickly switch to a friendly tone if the person is inclined to it. But men sometimes take it as if it's a hint of further intimacy. It always catches me by surprise, perhaps because I'm a pretty cool person in terms of sexual passions. Every time it comes as a shock to me that smiles and jokes can be regarded as an invitation to sex, moreover, during a short business meeting. For me, this is the logic of an alien being.

Our publication has a regular advertiser, an adult married man, with whom I regularly communicate. We meet when we need to make joint material, and once he told me: "I like you, I want you." I say to him: “Let's come to an agreement right away: I am married, I love my husband, I have never cheated on him and I’m not going to, this topic is closed to me”.

For a while there was a lull, but then it started again - he calls me "just to find out how I am doing", says that he will always want to, because "I am a man …", invites for business conversations in a cafe, translates the conversation to “how are you holding on like this? I can't do that."

That is, he perceives my refusal as that I want him, I just control myself. If he knew how disgusting I am at this moment, he would probably be very surprised. He is sure that he is irresistible.

I began to notice that after such meetings, when I sit and endure, and he tries to sit closer, I leave for a very long time. I have a feeling that I was morally raped. I look at my husband, but I see this person, it becomes disgusting. I want to hide in a corner and not see anyone."

Ekaterina, 45 years old

“90s, the beginning of my career. All editions have a lot of alcohol, and sex has appeared in the country. At one press conference we met with a well-known journalist V. He invited me to come to the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company and together with him to come up with a program about culture.

I came. We talked about Pushkin, Tsvetaeva; he drank vodka. It was not scary - everyone did it. Finally, I got up, was about to leave, and then he began to pester me. I moved back to the door, and drunk V. with the words "Well, at least look!" pulled down his pants and showed me an erect penis. I never went to the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company again.

Another incident occurred during a trip with a delegation to a neighboring country. The delegation from the Saratov region included the current minister, let's call him B.

During the trip, the deputy minister began to look after me and offered to have sex with him, but warned me that before that I would have to sleep with Minister B. Who, according to unspoken rules, you see, is the right of the first night.

It is interesting that one journalist in our delegation seriously suggested that I agree."

Anna, 38 years old

“At one time, many years ago it was, I took part in a casting for a correspondent of one of the federal TV channels. We are talking about the Saratov bureau. I was refused. Later I learned through my own channels that they refused for one reason: I am a girl, but I needed a boy. As a result, the boy was taken. And to be honest, not stronger than me.

I have worked in journalism for many years. And she was not the weakest journalist. And the editor treated me adequately, but no, no, and slipped: "If you were a boy …" On the other hand, sometimes it helped.

Sometimes I made a stupid face, blinked my eyes like a foolish girl, the interviewer relaxed, and I pulled out the strongest syncs. But there is definitely discrimination in our profession”.

Zoya, 35 years old

“I have had several unpleasant experiences. During the interview, the director of a modeling agency put his hand on my knee and the whole conversation did not take it out of there. This caused such a strong shock that I could not even say that I did not like it, and there was nowhere to move away.

In addition, I was scared: the modeling agency was giving advertisements to our magazine. It seems to me that the director himself did not understand that he was doing something wrong and, probably, did not even consider it harassment.

For him, it was a normal manner of communication: he could start hugging with anyone in public, and calmly kissing the girls from the advertising department on the lips, and it seems that they liked it. Or maybe they feared him as much as I did.

Another case was also related to the interview. We agreed to meet in a cafe with a politician from Moscow. It turned out that the meeting was not just in a cafe, but in a separate office, locked from the inside. And when I got there, the interviewee was not alone, but with his assistant, the table was covered with alcohol, and they were both terribly drunk. I just turned around and ran away. It was terribly embarrassing that I even got into this situation."

Natalia, 43 years old

That was a long time ago. I worked as a correspondent for a regional newspaper. The deputy editor-in-chief, 20 years older, constantly made me obscene proposals. He smelled very unpleasant all the time. I avoided communication with him as best I could.

One day he started shouting: "If you knew how to choose men, you would have lived in the city center for a long time, and your child would go to a prestigious kindergarten!"

I realized that he was hinting at himself and asked: "Are you talking about yourself?" And why do you constantly shoot money at me for beer? " He got mad: “What are you allowing yourself? Your husband generally drives a "kopeck"! " He took my shoes, which I was changing into at work, and threw them against the wall.

And then I said: "*** [leave me alone], please." He yelled: "What ?!" I clarified: "Go *** [far], please!" The next day I was fired."

Anton, 32 years old

“In general, I would not call it violence. But the boss pushed me up and sometimes baffled me with this.

These were the evening conversations on the phone, when the boss gets drunk and asks to console her. At first, I didn’t refuse to be comforted, because humanity and that’s all. But pretty soon it turned into tackles.

Questions about what you will do if I want to kiss and kiss you plunged into a stupor and I advised her to go to sleep.

There was a stupor because I understood that we were in different weight categories and she could kiss me if she wanted and more. It's strange that it wasn't because I was in a relationship back then. In the end, I made it clear to her that we are friends at most. I stopped drinking with her, and I stopped taking the phone in the evenings too. And then I got fired from my job. But it was formally because of drunkenness."

Psychologist's comment. Karina Zinchenko:

“Harassment is not only when a bully grabs all sorts of places in an alley. It is also an attempt to have a sexual relationship with subordinates, with those who are lower in status, or physically weaker.

Very often I see comments that you need to be patient, it's okay, you don't need to dramatize. But in fact, any harassment leaves an imprint on the one who was harassed. Fear appears; there may be dislike for people who resemble the one who harassed. Most of the harassment comes from men, those who are higher in status or stronger physically.

A journalist comes to interview, and a person who has great resources begins to hint at her something that goes beyond the framework of official relations. In this way, he perplexes the journalist: either her relationship with the person will deteriorate, or she will have to agree to what will hurt her.

How does it hurt? This causes a lot of fear and disgust. It can even induce PTSD like in combatants. The feeling of insecurity in the workplace is highly destabilizing. Sometimes people say, "What's wrong, just give it up."

Yes, she will refuse, but the consequences for her will be unpleasant in any case. Harassment when there are no verbal signs that a person wants any relationship other than workers is unacceptable and should be condemned. People who use their position to get sex are not able to exist in society with dignity, they need to work on themselves.

People who are faced with harassment, I would like to wish mental strength and not doubt that they are right, that refusal is normal. As the practice of Western countries shows, there are improvements. Now we are witnessing the story of Weinstein, who was nevertheless condemned. I believe that ethical relations between colleagues will become the norm in our country, too."

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