I have some female friends that work in this industry and none of them complained or even mentioned this kind of incidents. You might say that this is anecdotal evidence, but so is the blog post.
Is it possible that they haven't spoken about it because you are male and they feel as though you may not understand? Is it possible that they haven't spoken up for fear of losing their jobs?
Just because nobody has spoken about it doesn't mean it hasn't been going on.
I doubt they feel I may not understand. I talk to them on various topics including stuff for adults. As for the fear of losing their jobs, most of them are classmates, not (ex-)workmates, so I don't see how talking to me about this might lead to losing their job.
By the way, I asked multiple times one of them about the "Women in Open Source/Free Software" propaganda and she told me she isn't very fond of this positive discrimination. She doesn't see any real barriers in working on software be it FOSS or proprietary. My speculation is that some people might not trust her abilities at first and make some jokes, but that's it.
If your thought process about this subject includes the idea that anecdotal claims are relevant, I doubt that you would leave the impression that you are trustworthy enough to talk to about this.
I think I was a bit misunderstood. I'm not saying that sexual discrimination, harassment, rape etc. does not exist, just that it might not be as common as some people think. All I wanted to do is counter an anecdote with another anecdote. By the way, except for the 1 in 4 statistic mentioned by KuraFire, all I've seen is anecdotes.
Going back to trust, I don't understand your logic. Are you trying to say that because I'm skeptical others might not tell me about these abuses?
You should also take into account the cultural differences between countries. I live in Romania (an European country) and things are bit different from US. Some stuff that's normal or just a bit negative here (read impolite), might be offensive to a lot of Americans. When I visited the offices of an American company, I remember seeing a labor law poster in the kitchen mentioning that managers must take courses about sexual harassment. You won't see something like this in Romania. Another example might be groping. There was some groping in high-school and the girls complained of course, but they didn't make a fuss out of it nor shouted rape.
P.S. Speaking of groping, Japan seems to be famous for it. I wonder if this type of sexual scandals related to the software industry exist in Japan, too. It looks to me like US is prone to them.
> Are you trying to say that because I'm skeptical others might not tell me about these abuses?
It wasn't me making the argument, but yes, this is definitely applicable. Women have very finely-tuned senses when it comes to reading men (because they are conditioned by our male-dominated society to do this, just to survive), so if you're admitting to being skeptical about these matters it is almost guaranteed that the women in your direct vicinity will not consider you trustworthy enough to discuss these most vulnerable and difficult things with.
The reverse is also true: the more open-minded and understanding you show yourself to be, the more people will feel comfortable opening up to you about real things.
You've indicated you live in Romania. While I'm from western Europe myself (Netherlands), I'm fairly confident that everything I just wrote applies just as much here in the US, back home in the Netherlands, and there where you are, Romania.
The fact that "you won't see something like [labor law posters mandating courses about sexual harassment]" in Romania probably indicates that this problem is actually far worse in Romania than you think. That, or it is far lower, but I doubt that given your "there was some groping in high-school" comment.
I'm skeptical to broad generalizations based mostly on anecdotes. I have no problem with some specific cases and I'm always ready to help my friends. After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed. By the way, I asked one of them today if she heard of any sexual scandals at the work place in Romania or Italy and she told me she hasn't hear of any. All she knows about is some rudeness (in lack of a better word).
The problem might indeed be far worse in Romania from a quantitative point of view, but not from a qualitative point of view. People don't make such a big deal like suing the boss for small things, e.g. sexual innuendo or dirty jokes. They might call him a pig like in high-school and break his neck as a friend suggested :-D, but that's it.
Here's some additional elaboration to X-Istence’s great point: 1 in 4 women in the US has been raped / sexually assaulted. Less than 30% of them actually reported it to authorities.
Thanks for coming with a statistic instead of another anecdote. Though this statistic does not say anything about industries, so the "silicone" industry might not be the only one to blame. Of course, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't stop doing bad things, just that we aren't as abnormal as others (or ourselves) label us.
Based on first-person accounts, scholarly studies and data from a nationwide survey of college campuses conducted by Ms. magazine, freelance journalist Warshaw draws a devastating portrait of men who rape women they know. The Ms. survey reveals that 25% of the college women polled have been the victims of rape or attempted rape, 84% of the victims were acquainted with the attacker and 57% of the rapes happened on dates.
There are some important technical details missing, like how many respondents were, what's the estimated error and so on. I'll check your blog next week for further details.
I have a blog post in the works that is chock full of statistics, focused on Tech & Design. Check back on farukat.es sometime in the next few days if you want a wealth of resources, research studies findings etc.
