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A.J. Geare *
Introduction
Sexual harassment is very much a modern issue. It is generally accepted (MacKinnon, 1979) that the actual phrase did not appear in print until 1975, and any earlier usage is obscure and virtually unknown. Until 1979 the subject received little attention from the academic and legal communities. However, MacKinnon's book had a major impact on attitudes to the subject, creating a lot of attention. Westman (1992: 797) eulogizes:
MacKinnon, a well known feminist writer and activist has been credited with popularising the term, increasing the awareness of the problem, and inspiring changes in sexual discrimination law.
Even a non-admirer (Paul, 1990: 334) acknowledges MacKinnon's "hugely influential book, much quoted by judges and commentators".
During the 1980s sexual harassment gained increasing attention with more research and writing and more frequent court cases and rulings. The attention of the general public was not aroused for another decade, and not until there had been some widely publicised cases in the United States. These cases included the so-called "Tailhook" scandal, when navy aviators went on a drunken rampage of sexual assaults through an hotel, and the Frances Conley case in which Conley, a surgeon, accused her colleagues at Stanford University of having sexually harassed her over a long period. While both these cases received wide media attention they pale into insignificance when compared to the 1991 case of Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Thomas had been nominated for the United States Supreme Court and the required investigation by the Senate was televised. When Anita Hill brought out her accusations, millions of television viewers throughout the United States (and later the world) were fascinated by the real life soap opera. Although she has many champions (see Southern California Law Review, 1992), the credibility and integrity of Anita Hill have been brought into question (Brock, 1992). However, whatever the facts of the case (discussed later), there is no doubt that her accusations resulted in sexual harassment becoming a very prominent modern issue.
The recent focus on sexual harassment can give the false impression that it is a problem of our time. Feary (1994: 649) makes the surprising justification for the comment that sexual harassment is an old problem, by stating that sexual harassment had been...