Categories
Antiwork

My work horror story

In my former workplace, almost all of the senior permanent positions are held by men. The women, who do a lot of the day to day project and task delivery, are kept on short term contracts. I would frequently be told by other women that they weren't sure if they'd have their contract renewed. Sometimes they'd even have to reapply for their same job! I was in the same position. Some of the senior men would touch me in inappropriate ways because they knew that I wouldn't be believed or helped if I reported them. One man made innuendo non stop the entire time I worked with him, including in meetings with others present. No one spoke up. He used his position to get opportunities to hit on women. There was strong evidence he was carrying out an affair with another staff member (a woman) for whom he pulled strings,…


In my former workplace, almost all of the senior permanent positions are held by men. The women, who do a lot of the day to day project and task delivery, are kept on short term contracts. I would frequently be told by other women that they weren't sure if they'd have their contract renewed. Sometimes they'd even have to reapply for their same job! I was in the same position. Some of the senior men would touch me in inappropriate ways because they knew that I wouldn't be believed or helped if I reported them. One man made innuendo non stop the entire time I worked with him, including in meetings with others present. No one spoke up. He used his position to get opportunities to hit on women. There was strong evidence he was carrying out an affair with another staff member (a woman) for whom he pulled strings, and some evidence of an affair with another. He tried to set up an affair with me. I felt like I was in a harem rather than a workplace. He tried to convince others I was bullying him to damage my reputation in case I reported him. It was very difficult to get my head around.

It wasn't just him. The other senior men used their positions to get opportunities to hit on women and those that didn't, frequently were abusive in other ways.

This ill treatment of women in this workplace damaged the mental health of my female colleagues, with at least one of them being hospitalised for work related stress.

Credit for work that I contributed to significantly was given to the senior men. After I left, due to the ongoing abusive treatment, I found out that the project team I had previously led towards success were unable to make progress.

I sometimes wonder how these men justify this abusive behaviour? Is it just that they are so narcissistic that they entirely lack empathy? Why don't they care about all the people they hurt?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *