How one business journalist handled sexual harassment

Shaheen Pasha, a University of Massachusetts journalism professor, writes about how she was sexually harassed when she worked as a business journalist for CNNMoney, Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Pasha writes, “When I started my career in New York as a financial journalist in the early 2000s, I was often one of the few women in a roomful of some of the most powerful men on Wall Street. I was young and unsure, learning the ropes of an industry that baffled me. So, when a corporate executive would comment on my appearance as I asked a question or brush past me with a quick, overly familiar squeeze to my waist, I’d swallow the discomfort of the situation and put on a brave face. I’d try to be professional even as I seethed inside.

“I wish I could say it got better as I progressed in my career. The world seemed to be evolving. There was more openness about sexual harassment and sexual abuse in the media. Men were more vocal about being allies. Women were moving up in the ranks, gaining more power in various industries and proudly declaring their sexual agency.

“But as a woman of color in the journalism industry, I often felt that the evolution had passed me by. No matter what I did, how many stories I broke or how respected I became in my field, every time a source or a male colleague made reference to my body, asked me out on a date, or felt the need to touch me without my permission, my achievements suddenly became secondary to my sexuality. It felt like an uphill battle for respectability that I could never win.”

Read more here.