Sixty percent of women say they've experienced sexual harassment at work, according to the Vermont Commission on Women, and three out of four of those women report experiencing retaliation for speaking up. Now House lawmakers are updating Vermont's sexual harassment laws to protect victims' rights and ban settlements that can silence victims and favor employers.
Bradford Rep. Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, one of the bill's main sponsors, and Lisa Senecal of the Vermont Commission on Women, join Vermont Edition to discuss how the bill aims to increase reporting of sexual harassment in the state and ways that it will protect victims from employer retaliation. They'll also discuss the bill's goal of prohibiting certain non-disclosure agreements and mandatory arbitration, and how those tools can favor employers while blocking victims from pursuing further legal action.
Broadcast live on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
