The year of Hurricane Harvey
“哈维飓风”之年
Accusations of harassment have felled some powerful men
性侵指控已经扳倒了一些大佬
But will that lead to a permanent change in behaviour?
但是那能否带来长久的行为转变？
Print edition/Leaders Dec 19th2017
For those who care about a woman’s right tolead her life unmolested, 2017 began badly. A man accused of groping several women took office in the White House. (Donald Trump dismissed the allegations –as well as a tape of him boasting about his behaviour, which he called mere “locker-room talk”.)
2017年对于关心女权不受侵犯的人来说，可谓开年不利。一个被指四处寻花问柳的男人入主白宫了。（唐纳德.特朗普否认了那些指控；还否认了一段吹嘘自己行为的录音，他称之为“更衣室谈话”。）
The year is ending somewhat better. In October Harvey Weinstein, a film producer, was accused of having spent decades harassing and assaulting actresses, and using his exalted position in Hollywood to intimidate and silence anyone who got in his way. He was forced out of the firm he co-founded and is being investigated by police. Further accusations against other powerful men followed, spreading beyond Hollywood into politics,journalism and the tech industry. Dozens were sacked or stepped down. Millions of women were inspired to share their own experience of harassment, using the hashtags #MeToo,#YoTambien, #BalanceTonPorc and so on. In a fitting end to a year of comeuppances,Roy Moore, who is accused of harassment and assault by several women, including one who was 14 at that time, became the first Republican to be defeated in aSenate race in Alabama since 1992.
＃MeToo drew attention to a facet of women’s lives to which men has been comfortably oblivious. It showed how common harassment is, and how harmfulto women’s careers.But the lesson from big social changes in the past is that more needs to happen if 2017 is to mark a permanent shift in behavior. Even now, HurricaneHarvey could blow itself out and women at work once again be assailed by all the old abuses.
#我也是（＃MeToo）聚焦了一个男性一直以来不屑关注的女性生活面，也显示出性侵的普遍程度和对女性职业生涯造成的伤害程度。但是从过去社会巨变获得的经验教训是：还应该发生多起类似事件予以助力（倘若2017年要标志上述行为的彻底翻转）。即使现在来看，“哈维飓风”都有可能不攻自破，职场女性也会再一次遭遇老戏码的攻击。
Windsof change
改变之风
The signs are that the #MeToo movement has reached a delicate stage. The buffeting of the past few months has certainly been cathartic. It also brought abusers in a bewildering range of industries kicking and screaming into the open. But the novelty of seeing famous men brought down will soon fade.Before that happens, both men and women need to come to a shared understanding of what sexual harassment is and what to do about it. If too many of them conclude that complaints are being exaggerated or exploited, they will not step in to stop backsliders. Minor transgressions will be allowed to carry on. That will make it more likely that rape and sexual assault go unpunished, too.
有迹象表明#我也是（＃MeToo）运动目前进入了一个微妙阶段。过去数月的震荡必然奏效了，也导致来自诸多行业的施暴者公开化“奔走疾呼”。然而，看到大佬被打下台的新鲜感很快就会消散，在它消散之前，男女双方应该在性侵的定义和处置方法上达成共识。如果有太多人认为那些控诉和抱怨都是夸大其词或者过分发挥，那么民众就无法阻挡倒行逆施的趋势。结果就是：轻型的违法行为被默许继续，强奸犯和性侵者可能逍遥法外。
Start with what counts as harassment. Most people can see that harm in a man trading a promotion for sex, in sexual assault or in crude groping. The divisions start with unwanted propositions, leering,sexualized put-downs and the like, particularly by a man who is in a powerful position. What men try to laugh off as a compliment, or a joke, often feels like humiliation or bullying to women－and may well be intended as such. Accusations can cast a shadow over someone’s reputation, so the lack of clarity over what is appropriate and what is not can be unsettling. Men and women may wonder how they are supposed to know whether a flirtation will be welcomed or will be the prelude to a career-threatening exposure. A lack of due process only adds to the uncertainty.
先说什么才能算作侵犯。很多人认为：在男性用职位晋升作为筹码进行性交易、性侵犯或者粗鲁肉体触摸的事件中有侵犯。从被动提议、到暗送媚眼、再到含性暗示的不雅言语和动作，等等诸如此类，是细分递进的，位高权重的男性这么做尤其如此。像对待赞美或玩笑一样，男性试图一笑了之的事往往像是对女性的羞辱或欺凌－可能他们也正是此意。指控会对一个人的声誉蒙上阴影，因此不对得当与否进行充分注解的话，也是一件麻烦事。男女可能都很好奇应该如何辨别一场搭讪挑逗是受欢迎的、还是一场曝光后会威胁事业的事件开端。正当法律程序的缺失也加深了不确定性。
Despite this absence of agreement, the evidence suggests that even less serious harassment causes harm. A study published in May, which followed the careers of a cohort of women in Minnesota, found that 11% had been harassed in some way in a single year. The victims went on to earn less than other women; of those who had been verbally abused repeatedly or physically touched at least once, 79% left the company within two years. That is not only wrong－in the way that all bullying is wrong－but also a waste of valuable talent.
尽管缺乏共识，有实证表明即使非重型的轻挑小逗也有危害。今年五月有一项追踪明尼苏达州若干女性职业生涯的研究报告发现：其中11%的女性在一年内受到过某种程度的侵犯，受侵犯女性相比其他女性往后赚的钱更少；至于一再被言语侮辱或至少一次被肉体触摸的女性，其中79%两年内离开了公司。这不仅涉及对错－所有欺凌都是错的－而且关乎人才浪费。
Once there is a consensus about what is wrong and why, the new norms must be enforced. This is unlikely to involve a change in the law. Rape and sexual assault are already illegal; discrimination and bullying at work are subject to employment law. What needs to change is the tacit complicity of managers and staff. HR departments often defend the boss－especially if he is seen as a rainmaker,as Mr Weinstein was. Managers want to keep their star employees, even if they are toxic, because they appear to do so much for the team.
一旦达成关于是非以及因果的共识，新的准则就必须执行起来。不过这不太可能涉及法律变更，因为强奸和性侵已属违法行为，职场歧视和欺凌也受劳工法约束。真正需要改变的是管理层和员工之间心照不宣的同谋共犯。公司人事部门往往会维护老板，如果老板位高权重、能呼风唤雨的话更是如此，比如韦恩斯坦。管理层也想留住明星员工，因为那些人似乎会团队贡献得多，即使他们“有毒”。
Those may turn out to be false economies－especially, they were with Mr Weinstein, who brought about the collapse of his firm. When you tot up the costs of all the women who leave, never join or work less well, the harassing star may not be so valuable after all.
不过这可能是假省钱－尤其是这些员工听从韦恩斯坦的话，事件曝光后他的公司都倒闭了。如果你合计离职女员工的代价，不要随她们或者消极怠工，说到底“猥亵之星”可能也没那么大价值。
Anew agenda
新议程
To change behaviour, the new standards mustbe enforced. Women who make complaints should notbe brushed off, bullied into dropping them or gagged by settlementswith non-disclosure clauses－one idea is that firms should be obliged to tell investors how many such agreements they have made. The entertainment industry, which appears so far tobean arch-offender, needs to reflect hard about whether that is related to the lack of women producers and directors.
改变行为的必要前提是执行新标准。提出投诉的女性不应该被置之不理、被逼撤回投诉、或者用保密条款封口－公司有义务告知投资人此前处理过多少起类似协议算是一个方法。目前看似顶级冒犯方的娱乐业，则需要深思这是不是和业内女制片人和女导演的人数太少有关。
Ultimately, however, much of the task will fall to peers. Men need to be alert and to step in where necessary. Women need to stand up for each other. Too many people have been blind to a problem hidden in plain sight.But Hurricane Harvey has raged through 2017 and ignorance is no longer an excuse.
最后，最艰巨的任务还是落到同辈身上。男性应该提起警觉，需要时介入帮助。女性则应该彼此支持。太多人对藏在眼皮下的问题装聋作哑，不过“哈维飓风”席卷了2017，无知不再是借口了。
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "The year of Hurricane Harvey"
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