Why it's getting harder for some women to report harassment

It has always been difficult for women to call out workplace misconduct. But a precarious economy and employment instability may be making the problem worse.

Diane has worked at a software company in New York for about six years. For the first two of those years, she enjoyed her job. Then she got a new boss, and things changed. 

“It was clear from the beginning he didn’t like me,” explains Diane, 37, who identifies as Asian-American. “He would ask me to do tasks that were objectively below my paygrade. Then he’d criticise me in front of my colleagues and accuse me of not following instructions, even though I had.”  

Diane says, at some point, her manager started making fun of her in front of her team members for everything from what she ate for lunch, to the occasional typo in an email. Today, Diane still works for the same boss. Even though she says things have improved slightly – which she attributes to the team adding heads – she says she still feels “harassed”.