Why don’t harassment victims speak up sooner?

I find it laughable when someone mentions harassment in the work place, be it sexual, verbal or whatever. First let me say, before all the self-righteous people jump to their typewriters and say I’m a pig who indulges those who harass anyone. When you harass anyone, in any form, I believe there are caves on far-off islands the harasser can be swept off to with the rest of them and see how long it takes to cry like an infant. You’re small, insignificant and useless.

What I find laughable is this goes on for years or decades until one person has what it takes and speaks out. Then victims come out of the woodwork to proclaim that they too were harassed. If you were harassed that long ago, why didn’t you speak up at the time? You could have saved numerous people the pain and suffering you claim to have endured. You did no one any service by keeping quiet. You did the perpetrator no harm — in fact, you led them to believe they did it once, they’ll do it 100 times. You let it go, so will everyone else.

But wait, evidently there is one person who has more of what it takes than you, all those years ago. You said nothing then, say nothing now. You didn’t start the fix, you condoned the problem. People need to speak up when the damage is done. The perpetrator would have been gone or at least dealt with then.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Why don’t harassment victims speak up sooner?."