When Anita Hill testified in Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court 27 years ago and accused him of sexual harassment, she was vilified for coming forward. Since then, however, Hill says the public’s attitude about sexual harassment in the workplace has changed.
“Oh, there’s been a tremendous amount of change,” Hill told John Oliver on Sunday’s broadcast of “Last Week Tonight.” “There’s been a change in public attitude. And there’s been a change in the amount of information that we have about sexual harassment. And there’s certainly more awareness after the #metoo movement.”
Hill, a professor at Brandeis University, said people were long aware of sexual harassment, but there was no consensus about how it should be handled.
“So far much of the approaches we’ve had is to put all of the burden on women,” Hill said. “One of the questions I get that just sort of sticks out with me is, ‘How do we raise our daughter to make sure that she doesn’t set herself up to be a victim of sexual harassment?’ These are the kinds of things that we’re thinking. If we fix her, then she won’t encounter this problem. In reality, she is not the problem.”
Check out the video above to see what Oliver has to say about sexual harassment and hear his full interview with Hill.
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