Hill Urges More Work Against Sexual Harassment in America

Anita V. Hill urged Americans, and law students in particular, to work harder to deal with this country's sexual harassment problems in a speech to about 350 people at the Law School last night.

Hill attracted national attention in October 1991 when she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her when they worked together at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Along with statistics, Hill used anecdotal evidence from the approximately 40,000 letters she said she has received since the Senate hearings to demonstrate women's feelings on sexual harassment.

Hill, a professor of law at the University of Oklahoma Law School, said that because "women have become more aware of their rights in the workplace," there has been a 60 percent rise in the "filling of EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] complaints on sexual harassment."

She said the new openness has allowed women to begin to talk more openly among themselves about their experiences with sexual harassment.

"Women really are taking comfort in the strength gained from others," she said.

Hill cited anecdotal evidence of children, parents and grandparents all sharing their experiences together.

Hill said the lack of lawyers willing to represent women filling sexual harassment cases is a major obstacle to further progress.

"It is the responsibility of the bar to provide representation for people who want to press these issues," she said. "We need adequate and effective representation for everyone whose rights have been violated."

To this end, Hill encouraged the audience of mostly law students to take pro bono work in this area.

"This is an area in which you can be useful," Hill said. "With a new awareness comes new responsibility."

Hill said that another way to solve the problem of sexual harassment was to educate males in elementary and secondary school.

"One answer is to start when they're boys," she said. "We train individuals, teach them that harassment is okay by ignoring it...[which reinforces] patterns of behavior which say it is okay to harass on the basis of sexual differences."

The talk was sponsored by the Saturday School, an informal Law School educational group run by Assistant Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree Jr.

Hill's speech was preceded by a musical performance by former University employee Larry Watson, who wrote a song praising Hill's courage at the Senate hearings.