I came across this book on actress Hayley Atwell’s Instagram account and decided to pick it up. Boy, I couldn’t put it down. The book is about the three year journey of two reporters: Jodi and Megan, who spent hours and hours investigating, cross-checking and writing about the sexual harassments by powerful men towards women.
Reading the book, I came to know the challenges and difficulties the victims of sexual harassments had to encounter whether they came forward. If they don’t, they have to live with their nightmares for the rest of their lives and watch the culprits go unpunished. If they do, they have to face death threats, disruption into their job, life and their family’s.
Over a long dinner, she made clear why she was so scared to travel to Washington. Her family had been forced to hire twenty-four-hour private security. It was uncertain when it would be safe for them to return home. Ford had already experienced enough disruption and danger.
She pressed Play on her phone at the dinner table. “You lying fucking cunt!” came a voice from her phone. The lawyer told Ford she was right to be frightened by the messages and encouraged her to share them with the FBI. “You’ve got three months” another voice said. Others repeated similar phrases and sounded like they might have come from the same voice-altering machine, making her think they were somehow coordinated. “Don’t be messing with my boy, Brett”. “Don’t be messing with my boy, Trump”
I have been so baffled and stunned by the length by which people are willing to go for something that is not related to them personally at all. How can you threaten a stranger’s life for something that is not related to you?
It’s also inconceivable to read what powerful men like Harvey Weinstein could get away. Non-disclosure agreements were signed, inflicting acute restrictions on the victims who, in some cases, didn’t even have the copies of the NDAs. Here is an excerpt on Harvey Weinstein’s behavior
Each morning, Perkins, or whichever assistant from the London office was on the early shift, had to rouse the partially or fully nude Weinstein out of bed in his hotel room, and turn on his shower, as if he could not rotate the handle himself. Sometimes Weinstein tried to pull Perkins into bed with him, she recalled
Last but not least, I appreciate and admire the tenacity of the authors, their colleagues and editors for pursuing the stories despite the intimidation, intricacies and difficulties. At one point, the story was going to collapse since evidence was exceedingly hard to secure while there was no victim going on the record. Massive massive appreciation towards Ashley Judd and Laura Madden for taking the leap of faith to be the first women to go on record, paving the way for many others.
It’s sad and disappointing to see that despite advances in so many areas, we, as a race, still have sexual harassments all around the world. I am sure what is covered in the book is just the tip of the iceberg.
Minh Quang Duong 