Workplace

For 17 years, I’ve been immersed in the funeral industry, managing my own business. As a trained embalmer and certified paramedic, I’ve also delved into studies in forensic psychology, criminology, and crime scene investigation. Despite my comfort with humor and lack of excessive sensitivity, my recent transition to a new company has exposed me to blatant sexism. My male colleague, whose education primarily consists of cashier work, has a problematic attitude. Despite his lack of relevant expertise, he vehemently opposes the idea of a woman driving, despite his own history of causing three car accidents within two days. To him, I’m not a woman but a “girl” whose intellectual pursuits he deems unnecessary:” a girl should not fill her little brain with too much knowledge”. He takes “mansplaining” to an extreme, explaining even the most basic concepts as if I lack understanding. He explained to me how an elevator works:” if you press button 1, it takes you to floor number 1! But if you want to go to floor number 2, you have to press which button? 2! That’s right! GOOD GIRL!” Regardless of my qualifications and experience, he persistently denies my education and professional background, hindering my ability to interact with clients. His prejudice extends to considering a woman’s role as solely that of a cleaner. Unwanted physical contact, such as inappropriate comments (”I would like to bury my face in your titts”) and hugs, has become a regular occurrence. When I voiced discomfort, I faced insults (I was fat and look like an idiot) about my appearance, and he deliberately hindered our collaborative efforts, exemplified by leaving me to lift a 150 kg man alone, asserting, “Let’s see how far you’ll get without me.” I acknowledge that we’re currently understaffed. However, if I were to bring up the matter with HR, the likely outcome would be a transfer to another department, a prospect I strongly wish to avoidas I love what I am doing, and like the area I am working in.

An overhead discussion in my small work office with a majority of men (3 women, 6 men) Two men were discussing s female movie star’s decline into drug addiction and how it’s “a shame” Man 1: You probably feel that way because she’s hot, right? Man 2: Yeh, Yeh I guess you’re right. It’s a waste” That was the end of the discussion. I thought man 1 was going to take it somewhere useful and thought provoking. But it still resulted in a discussion about how the lost looks of an unattainable woman has let down these men. THey have no effing clue to how this kind of talk affects us.

One day after a meeting, my boss, who loves to tell me how much of a feminist he is, decided to pay me a compliment and call me a “natural note-taker.” He then proceeded to explain that the only problem was that I didn’t share my notes with everyone else. I don’t think he must have skipped over the chapter in feminism for dummies that talked about women aren’t just secretaries anymore.

When all the men are invited on a trip to a ‘professional’ trip to Poland at work, apart from you because you are the only female. I am a member of management and I have been at the company for over a year. I’m not sure what the other explanation could be.

A new guy came to work at the same bakery I do, and a couple of weeks in, he told me how much he likes me( rather awkwardly explaining) and would like to take me out on a date. I politely refused, saying I was not interested. He mentioned that I’m not even closer to his type, and if I ever tell anyone about this chat, he will lie. Some days later, he asked me again, almost forcing a positive answer. I refused again and felt not only uncomfortable but unsafe and decided to leave the conversation. He went through some family things then, and I showed him compassion and understanding. I didn’t mention anything about it. Days later, I told my work friend, and she was distraught, suggesting it was harassment and trying to persuade me to do something. I explained that, hopefully, he understood, and all should be clear now. The guy completely changed his behaviour and started being rude, mean, snappy, passive-aggressive. When he complained that it was hard to work with me, I told my boss about the whole situation, but nothing changed, and I gave my notice. I’ve got a few days left, and today, he was acting up and started telling me what to do( we have different roles) and making fun of me. When I reacted, he started shouting to shut the fuck up cos I never listen. Why should I listen to someone yelling at me, showing no respect or intelligence, who has no dignity? I picked up my stuff and left. It’s been, so far, the worst work environment I’ve ever had.

I am a 17 year old girl who has a part time job at a high street store. I have been working there for around about a year and a half now. Recently since about August, a middle aged male customer has regularly been entering the store. At first he came in with a woman around about the same age as him but he was belittling her and telling her to stop being so emotional. I felt like he was a threat, but as the visits went on that became less so, he became a familiar face. Now I know that was just a power move to make him trust me. As the visits went on, he became rather overfriendly with me, exclusively talking to me and no other member of staff. I thought that was normal, and I didn’t say anything because I thought he was just a regular who enjoyed coming in for company. This particular day he came in, it was just me and an 18 year old girl on the shop floor as we were short staffed. She was on the till and I was standing back in the store, but not too far away from the store. This time I was all alone, and I didn’t have the barrier of the till protecting me. He was talking about me being a “clever girl” and despite knowing full well that I was a minor, saying how he would be able to “get me out of my shell” and “make me feel loved”. He was saying about taking me out for a drink outside of work because he ‘didn’t know I liked him in that way’. I did not give him any consent in any way, I was just talking to a regular customer. That was when he touched my breasts, and grabbed them. I moved away but then he rubbed and touched my face and said that he’d come in again to sort it out. I was dismissing it all and saying that I was busy just because I wanted him to leave, I was petrified and felt so uncomfortable. I think about that day every moment, CCTV has caught him and I have an ongoing police investigation. I can’t go on knowing that he has taken everything from me, he needs to be identified. This is not okay to happen to any woman.