Editorial: Use your voice

Silence may be golden, but keeping quiet about sexual harassment isn’t.

Though it was hard for her to do, Terry Reed summoned the courage to report an incident at work involving sexual assault. Victims like her, who hold offenders accountable, are helping the fight against sexual harassment.

Any unwelcomed sexual advance — verbal or physical — is harassment, and society needs to have a no-tolerance policy for such criminal behavior.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made such acts illegal in the workplace. That means business owners and managers have a responsibility to protect their workers and can face major fines and civil judgments for failing to do so.

Unfortunately, despite the decades-old law and countless codes at work, sexual harassment still happens in the office, on the playgrounds, in our schools and in our homes.

With major social networking on the Internet, sexual harassment has spread through cyberspace as well, and it doesn’t discriminate based on age, sex or ethnicity.

There are a number of ways to combat lewd behavior, the most important is education. Educate your children, your friends and yourself about what it means to be sexually harassed.

Harassment includes unwelcome physical advances as well as comments of a sexual nature — direct or implied. The victim doesn’t have to be the subject of the harassment; anyone offended by the situation is considered a victim.

Because sexual harassment can isolate its victims or make them feel they are in the wrong for being offended, many cases go unreported.

The solution isn’t to tolerate the behavior; the solution is to eradicate it. Confront the offender, document the situation, tell a friend, tell your boss, tell the authorities.

Whatever you do, don’t keep quiet — speak out today to prevent it tomorrow.