When a man that is twice my age “jokingly” makes comments about how my leggings leave little to the imagination, or when another holds a broom up in front of his crotch and says he is excited to see me, I know there is something wrong in the work industry. I have worked in a diner since I was fourteen-years-old and the things I have witnessed are not acceptable by any means. No woman or man should ever go into work and feel uncomfortable working alongside their coworkers, especially minors.
Being that I am no longer a minor, I have friends that I work with that still are. I feel responsible for making sure that they feel safe and comfortable while they have to interact with these individuals at work for eight hours a day. There have been many times these girls have come to me saying they feel uncomfortable around coworkers and they were too afraid to go to our boss for fear that nothing would be done. The fact that women have become afraid to speak out against their assaulters is absurd. As women, our complaints are often dismissed and pushed to the side in fear of them becoming public.
I have not only been harassed by coworkers but also by customers. I have gotten many comments such as: “If I was twenty years younger and was not married, I would keep my eye on you” and “you do not need makeup, you are beautiful without it.” As a fourteen-year-old I thought there were just nice comments made by regular customers, as I have gotten older, I realize this is not acceptable and what one may think is a joke, actually comes across as uncomfortable and even a little creepy.
There have been many claims that have come out in the past year of sexual harassment in the workplace and it is time for them to stop. My coworkers and I are sick of our bodies being sexualized at work, we are sick of our asses being grabbed and grazed as if we are animals, we are sick of no one listening to our cries of help. What more has to happen for someone to finally listen to us and give us the justice we deserve? Why has it taken until 2018 for people to start recognizing sexual harassment as a problem?