Victims Of Workplace Sexual Harassment Urged To Come Forward Following Times Report

NEW YORK-A reporter claims there’s a code of silence in the entertainment and media world that keeps women from reporting sexual harassment. 

Emily Steel, Business Reporter, New York Times says she’s been doing the story for more than a year and there’s one common theme that keeps on coming up.

“What’s very interesting about sexual harassment is that it’s very rare for women to report these cases at all. They fear H-R departments, they fear retaliation, they fear they’ll put their jobs in jeopardy, they fear they won’t be believed,” said Steel.

Non disclosure agreements are coming under intense scrutiny like never before – having allegedly been used by Harvey Weinstein and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News to fight sexual assault allegations.

Steel says the legal documents effectively silence victims of sexual harassment, preventing them from speaking out and naming their aggressors.

New York Times revealed that O’Reilly paid 32 million dollars to a Fox News Colleague who threatened to sue him for alleged sexual misconduct.

“One thing that has started to happen in the wake of our reporting on Fox news and the Times” reporting on Harvey Weinstein, is that a number of women have found their voice and they’ve started to come forward to talk about these allegations and that’s really starting to create change, Steel said.

Watch Emily Steel discuss this issue with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.