Since 1991, thousands of women (and supportive men) from all over South Carolina have attended the now iconic \u201cI Believe Anita Hill!\u201d annual celebration in Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s important, it\u2019s a great networking opportunity, and it\u2019s the longest-running event in the nation honoring Professor Hill for her courage in shining a light, through her testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991, on the long-hidden subject of sexual harassment in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next month \u2013 like many other events during this cursed year of 2020 \u2013 the Anita Hill celebration will be virtual. On Thursday, Oct. 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., you can attend the 29th annual \u201cI Believe Anita Hill!\u201d celebration online, from the comfort of your own home or office. The Zoom event will be professionally produced. It will include photos, short videos, uplifting stories of women who have taken action against harassment or domestic violence, and virtual break-out rooms where attendees can network and chat with friends on a variety of topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Hill, now a professor at Brandeis University, will join the celebration virtually with pre-recorded remarks. (She has attended three celebrations in person, most recently the 25th anniversary event in 2016.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause of COVID-19, we can\u2019t be together in person, but we\u2019re going to have a great virtual time,\u201d says Barbara Rackes, a Columbia businesswoman and a founder of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twenty-nine years after the first Anita Hill event in 1991, it would be nice to say that sexual harassment in the workplace has been rooted out and utterly vanquished. That, however, would be false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the United States, 85 percent of women say they have experienced sexual harassment over the course of their careers, but very few file reports. (The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission estimates 75 percent of all workplace harassment goes unreported for fear of retaliation or the belief nothing will be done.) And since 1991, a new type of sexual harassment has sprung up and is growing: online sexual harassment, particularly of young women. Twenty-six percent of women aged 18-24 say they have been stalked online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n