The sexual harassment reckoning

Tolerance of sexual misconduct by powerful men in America has shifted with stunning swiftness, a change as healthy as it is long past due. The dizzying reversal leaves Americans wondering who might be next to fall — and why this is happening now.

After all, Donald Trump was elected president a little over a year ago despite being caught on tape boasting about groping women and being accused by 13 women of inappropriate touching.

And former president Bill Clinton became an elder statesman of the Democratic Party despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including Juanita Broaddrick's charge that he raped her in 1978.

A national reckoning on sexual harassment seemed a long way off.

Yet a backlash was building. Something in the graphic, detailed allegations by multiple women against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein — followed closely by evidence of misbehavior by other celebrities, politicians and media figures — shifted the terrain dramatically.

A combination of authoritative news reporting and brave, mad-as-hell female victims finally broke the logjam, and society echoed back that enough was enough.

“I have been slut-shamed. I have been harassed. I have been maligned. And you know what? I’m just like you. Because what happened to me behind the scenes happens to all of us in this society," Weinstein accuser and actress Rose McGowan told a convention of women last month. "And that cannot stand, and it will not stand.”

The casualties have been non-stop. On Wednesday alone, they included public radio's Garrison Keillor and Matt Lauer, the longtime Today co-host. Lauer was summarily fired about 34 hours after a woman brought credible allegations to his employers at NBC.

Victims are emboldened and, at long last, being heard. Consequences are coming at lightning speed. Powerful men are soul-searching past conduct. And all of this holds out the promise of a more level workplace for men and women.

Even so, human interactions can be messy and complicated, and a national reckoning mustn't devolve into sexual McCarthyism. What are the guideposts going forward? Here are a few suggestions:

• The punishment should fit the crime. All sexual misconduct is unacceptable, but not all of it is equal. 

• Allegations should be able to withstand thorough examination and interrogation. Anything less would be condescending, especially to women. The accused deserve due process.

• This cultural sea change must trickle down to places such as restaurants and farms and small businesses, where sexual harassment can be endemic and allegations don't make front-page news. 

• Where the ballot box serves as judge and jury of sexual misconduct, real change will never come as long as voters place political tribalism over basic decency.

After all, sexual abuse isn't conservative or liberal, Democratic or Republican. It's just wrong.

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