Women Employed

The interest group that I chose is called Women Employed. As an interest group

their goal is to help improve the economic status of women and create more equality. Its

main focus is for women to be fairly treated in the workplace and that diversity in

culture, experiences, and ideas is necessary for their success. Women Employed is

located in Chicago, Illinois and has their own website with many resources. There’s

places they suggest to donate too, resources, and lists all of their accomplishments thus

far and more upcoming projects. One of their accomplishments is helping win the Anti

Workplace Harassment Bill in the state of Illinois(Women employed, 2023).

Sexual harassment in the workplace can include sexual favors and comments,

jokes, physical conduct or verbal. In the US one quarter of women have faced sexual

harassment in the workplace. Most times it goes unsaid due to fear of losing a job or not

being heard and believed. Sexual harassment in the workplace is a key part to women’s

equality. Whether it’s physical or emotional it affects women’s ability to feel comfortable,

advance in the workplace, and even sustain a steady job. The purpose of Women

Employed was to help change this problem and help strengthen and enforce laws. What

started this event was the #MeToo movement that went viral in 2018. This event of

women standing up to men for the abused they have been faced with helped impact the

way life is today.

One year after the #MeToo movement on the anniversary of it going viral,

Women Employed decided to stand for women and help protect against sexual

harassment in the workplace. Because of Women Employed, them and 300 other
organizations were able to create a monumental event which was passing of the Anti

Workplace Harassment Bill in Illinois( Shanthi Gaur, 2019).

What this bill does is require anti harassment policies and training before starting

and will be required every year. The law will also provide employees working alone with

a panic button or safety notification device in case of an emergency. It will create a

bigger process for investigating and addressing sexual harassment. Lastly it will also

provide employees that have faced sexual harassment with paid leave to seek medical

help(Employed, 2019).

This group has many resources and have completed multiple actions to help

against not just sexual harassment. I agree with them that many of the times it goes

unnoticed or brushed off. I agree with this interest group and their work because I

myself have faced sexual harassment in the workplace. It’s hard being a female and

you’re being treated unfairly and inappropriately at the same time and feel like you can’t

tell your own boss about it. Because of the inequality between male and female most

males feel more powerful and it can be intimidating to feel like you can even talk to them

because they may brush it off. I feel that if the coworkers I had worked with received

better sexual harassment training like this bill requires then some issues would not have

happened.

There are many positives to this organization.One is that they don’t only focus on

sexual harassment issues. They also have information about, equal pay, sick pay,

pregnancy fairness, and multiple other issues in our society involving women today. I

think what they are standing for and have to say is very important and helps women that

may feel scared or don’t know where to turn to have a place to rely on. One thing that I
really love about their organization and website is that they are focused on career

pathways and helping women get good jobs and education. They have partnered with

colleges and agencies to help create a career pathways program that helps lead women

to successful careers.

Some negatives about this organization and their involvement in the political

process is it seems to me that they’re mainly only worried about sexual harassment in

the state of Illinois. While it is amazing for all the things they have done and

accomplished there are still so many women outside of the state of Illinois facing this

issue today. I think it’s important to try to raise awareness all around the country and the

world to teach sexual harassment in the workplace and how it affects womens lives

individually and professionally.

I learned a lot more about sexual harassment and womens equality in the

workplace from Women Employed. They have many staff members helping and

educating individuals, groups, employers, organizations, and students. They have

excellent and accomplishable goals that we can see they have succeeded with and

even though they’ve succeeded they are still continuing and learning ways to improve.

They’ve created many ways to donate, serve, and help with women's equality. One

thing that stood out to me about this organization was how the power of women can

bring them all together no matter their race, culture or social background.
 Reference Page

Women employed. Women Employed. (2023, June 1).https://womenemployed.org/

Shanthi Gaur, J. J. and M. L. © L. (2021, July 7). New #metoo-inspired law in

Illinois creates sweeping employer obligations. SHRM.

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/

pages/new-metoo-inspired-law-in-illinois-creates-sweeping-employer-obligations.aspx

Employed, W. (2019, October 14). Illinois Anti-Workplace Harassment bill: What it is

and how it will impact the workplace. Medium.

https://womenemployed.medium.com/omnibus-sexual-harassment-bill-a77c8ebe721c