Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Assault in Financial Services - Series Intro
This is part 1 of a series that shares real stories of sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination in financial services. You can read the other installments to date on the series landing page.
About a year into my first job in financial services, I attended my first conference. I was excited to learn about the industry and network with other professionals. Imagine my naïve surprise when during the event I was invited up to a fellow attendee’s hotel room, propositioned at a networking mixer, and invited to a strip club for a business meeting.
More than a decade later, still working in financial services, then the CEO of a RIA and Broker Dealer, I attended a conference of financial services executives. I was in conversation with a small group of attendees who, besides me, were all men. One of the men made a joke about raping me. The other men in the circle either laughed or said nothing. After so many years in the industry, I was no longer surprised at misogynist attitudes. Still, it was disappointing; even after making it to the executive level, sexual harassment was a normal part of my work experience as a woman in financial services.
I have many personal experiences with sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination and almost every woman I know who has worked in financial services for an extended amount of time has her own set of stories. When women in finance meet for the first time, our stories of harassment often come out quickly, sharing notes on pay inequity, degrading experiences at conferences, and inappropriate touching from colleagues and bosses. We share these stories privately, and it’s a relief to be able to talk about it. We don’t share these stories publicly because doing so would endanger our jobs, get us labeled as difficult, passed over for a promotion, fired, or “asked to leave.”
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, we’ve seen many articles about why there are so few women in financial services, as well as surveys and statistics about sexual harassment and discrimination. While statistics and surveys are helpful for measuring the issue, I want to share real stories of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. I am at a point in my career where I can safely talk publicly about some of my own stories and I put a call out to see if other women wanted me to share their stories, anonymously, on their behalf.
The response was overwhelming. Within 24 hours dozens of women messaged me with their stories. As women who know me vouched for my ability to keep their privacy, more stories rolled in.
I got Twitter DMs, texts from work friends, and emails from both acquaintances and strangers.
Women I have never met poured their hearts out to me.
The palpable fear associated with telling these stories was also remarkable.
Some women called me because they were afraid of putting anything in writing.
One woman created a burner Twitter account to anonymously message me her stories so they couldn’t be linked to her personal account.
Some women told me they wanted to share their stories but couldn’t because they had signed NDAs and/ or non-disparage agreements.
Many of the women I spoke with have privately held onto these harmful stories for years, even decades. Each of them was grateful that I would share on their behalf, and many of them seemed relieved to be able to tell their story. The message I got, loud and clear- is that women want to be heard, believed, and valued. And that is not happening in financial services right now.
A recent study shows that only 4.4% of male financial advisors think that sexual harassment is a significant problem in the financial advisory industry. If men knew what women experienced, that number would be much higher. I’ll be sharing these stories to bring attention to this real problem that financial services continues to face.
Starting tomorrow, I will share the stories that women shared with me, along with examples of solutions and ways to help, and ideas to further the conversation about gender equity in financial services. I have omitted or anonymized identifying characteristics of the men from these stories, not for their job security, but for the physical and financial security of the women who shared their stories. The intention is not to publicly call out the men that have harassed, assaulted, or discriminated against women, but instead to call attention to behaviors and systems that contribute to the underrepresentation of women in financial services.
Most of the stories reflect one or more of the following issues, and I’ve grouped the stories into thematic articles to illustrate each issue.
Conferences- Unchecked bad behavior runs rampant at financial services conferences.
Gender based discrimination and unequal treatment.
Race, immigration status, sexual orientation- Women in marginalized groups encounter discrimination and harassment that is compounded by racism and other types of bias.
Harassment in the office – When “locker room talk” is office talk.
Opting out- Women leaving their roles, not because they wanted a different job, but because they were not comfortable in their company or office.
The problem of reporting- When women report harassment and assault to their superiors, their reports are often minimized or dismissed to protect company revenues.
The first step in solving a problem is to understand the problem. Over the next few weeks, please listen to these stories, understand the problem, then let’s all take steps to create an inclusive and respectful financial services industry that welcomes everyone.
If your company is working on this issue, I would be happy to share learning resources (and will include some in the upcoming articles), and I would be pleased to help you advance the conversation at your next conference or event.