When #metoo happened I was just starting to work. I was 23 years old and I was still very little aware of sexist and sexual violence. Working in the construction industry, I mainly meet men, from the journeyman to the project manager. I experienced in my early years several sexist remarks, such as: “How come the client did not validate this document? You would have shown your cleavage…”, of my N + 2. (…) I took these remarks without reacting, because I did not know how to do it.
After an incident deemed sexist: “Go fuck your slut mother!”, towards a colleague, HR and my management took up this problem and interviewed the women on the site to find out their experiences. To my knowledge, the author of the insults was fired (there were other elements against this man). Thinking about it, I was questioned by HR and my N + 2, I did not dare to say that ordinary sexism mainly came from the management / management and not from the companions. Subsequently, an email address was set up to denounce these behaviors within the company.
I started to learn about gender-based and sexual violence in November 2018 and I understood the extent of the systemic phenomenon. I changed companies in the meantime. As soon as I arrived, I decided to take back my colleagues (engineers, site managers, companions) when they made sexist remarks, not necessarily nasty. (…) For instance : “No no, don’t take the shovel, you’ll hurt yourself”for them, it is benevolent.
I have often had the right towe can’t say anything more”. I started educating them with numbers. Some are beginning to become aware of the phenomenon, but they are still convinced that this represents only a minority of men who harass, assault or violent and that if he faces a “woman with character”, the man will calm down, as if both had their share of responsibility.
#metoo has shaken things up, but rape culture is still very much alive.