“It all begins with an NDA.”
A former personal assistant of Harvey Weinstein sums it up quite nicely.
What is going wrong in the workplace when it comes to widespread sexism, harassment, and bullying, particularly for women? The most serious consequence of which is sexual and physical violence as outlined, yet again, by the alleged victims of a man with considerable influence.
Mohamed al Fayed is the latest in a long line of men accused of heinous crimes, perpetrated from a position of power.
When will it stop?
It won’t while non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) exist, according to Zelda Perkins. In 2017, she said she was sexually harassed by Weinstein and broke a confidentiality agreement to speak out about the disgraced movie mogul.
“I think that they’re the complete root of the problem,” she says.
“They are one of the most prolifically used tools to not only enable abuse but to continue abuse because women cannot share their stories, which means that they don’t know what’s going on around them.
“They’re totally isolated. They can’t warn other people.”
An NDA is a legally binding contract that protects confidential information between parties.
They have their legitimate place, of course, in the world of business – including for private discussions, protection of client confidentiality and sensitive information.
They also need to be used to protect Intellectual Property (IP).
But Ms Perkins says “abuse is not a company’s IP”. She adds: “It’s not a trade secret. And it’s being treated as such.”
The good news is that there are campaigns and work is going on behind the scenes to change legal guidance and regulation – with a call for legislation to back it up.
Steps have been taken and conversations are being had.
Read more:
Al Fayed ‘cherry picked’ women
‘One of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation’
Egyptian-born tycoon was never far from controversy
The bad news is that nothing, so far, has gone far enough.
Until it does, the victims of abuse of power, in whatever form that takes, will continue to exist.
And the perpetrators will get away with it.