In 1992, the American Bar Association implemented a policy, spearheaded by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession to take action on sexual harassment in the legal profession stating that it is was a “serious problem” constituting a discriminatory and unprofessional practice.1 The ABA called upon members of the legal profession to provide leadership and education in eradicating sexual harassment, recognizing that it has major psychological and economic consequences for employees as well as significant costs to employers in lost productivity and turnover. At the time, sexual harassment was cited as one explanation for the gender gap in high-level legal positions. According to the 1992 ABA report, “[l]awyers play a special role in educating society about sexual harassment and eliminating it from the workplace.” Unfortunately, in the intervening 25 years, sexual harassment continues to plague women in the field of law2 and more pervasively, women of color.3
Women make up only 28 percent of non-equity partners at major law firms, and make up only 18 percent of equity partners—only 2 percent higher than in 2006.4 Now that close to 50 percent of law school graduates are women,5 how is it possible that the number of women holding top legal jobs has barely moved? There are a few factors, but a major reason is women still do not feel welcome or valued in many legal work environments and the gender pay gap remains significant.6 However, while gender discrimination remains a critical issue overall for women in the profession and likely will take years to correct,7 sexual harassment must stop as it degrades and humiliates women, often forcing them to leave their jobs, and the profession. While studies have shown that sexual harassment, through training and policy enforcement, occurs far less today than it did in 1992,8 the number should be zero. As lawyers, this should not be our legacy.
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