Recently, I had the privilege of speaking at an Evening of Kindness event in Melbourne, Australia, organized by Edgar’s Mission. I spoke to a roomful of animal advocates about compassion fatigue and burnout, and I offered some suggestions for self-care.
I’ve spoken on this topic for 10 years or so at various animal advocacy venues, but this time, when I addressed some of the triggers that can lead to burnout, I felt obligated to mention sexual harassment in our movement. After my presentation, the only questions and comments I got were about this topic, and they were all from women, including one who disclosed that she had experienced it. Clearly, the animal rights movement has a sexual harassment problem—and it has for a long time.
Sexual harassment occurs everywhere, but within the animal rights movement it is especially pervasive, in part because there are so many more women than men and in part because of the higher status men often have. Men are hailed as “heroes,” regarded as lending legitimacy to campaigns, and looked upon as natural leaders. Many of these men use their status to manipulate, harass, and even sexually assault female employees, volunteers, and interns within AR organizations. Women are told that if they speak out, they will be hurting the animals. In some cases, the victims are threatened with lawsuits or physical violence if they go public.
Consider for a moment the tragic irony of how sexism and misogyny (coupled with no small amount of male privilege) impact a movement that prides itself on working for liberation. Do the male CEOs, managers, supervisors, and others who treat women like objects and property not see how their attitudes and actions contradict the most fundamental philosophy of animal rights—not to mention how they’re forcing so many talented, hard-working, and compassionate women to leave?
With the growth of the #MeToo campaign, we are beginning to see certain men in power (and men almost always hold the power over women) held accountable for their behavior and crimes within politics and the entertainment and media industries. That rising tide seems to be lifting the animal rights movement, as well. Men are being terminated from their positions within animal protection organizations for harassing women—something I cannot imagine would have happened even a few years ago. Pressure is coming from donors, too. Tofurky, for example, now requires nonprofits that want a donation from the company to show they have a written policy for dealing with sexual harassment and protecting whistleblowers.
If you’re a man (or you identify as a man) in the animal rights movement, and you truly respect women and value them as colleagues, please:
- Be a strong ally.
- Believe them when they tell you they’ve been harassed or assaulted.
- Ask what you can do to support them.
- Do not tolerate sexist jokes or campaigns.
- Respect women’s boundaries.
- Do not normalize the behavior of abusers by making excuses for them or giving them a platform.
Remember, men, that you are fighting injustice; campaigning against one form of domination while participating in or allowing another perpetuates systemic oppression. Women drop out of the movement because of this.
I cannot overstate how serious or pervasive this issue is. Please take some time to read these recent blog posts by longtime animal activists lauren Ornelas, pattrice jones, and Carol J. Adams. These are very illuminating reads.
Finally, if you are a victim of sexual harassment or assault (or you’re not sure if you have been victimized), there’s a new resource called the Coalition Against Nonprofit Harassment and Discrimination that you can turn to for guidance.
You are not alone.
Follow @markhawthorne
16 comments
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January 18, 2018 at 11:09 am
Jim Reilly
Thank you, Mark, for using your position and privilege in a positive way for women in AR. I saw the devastation that just one person at HSUS wrought on numerous women, and the horrific lack of real response initially to the situation. It was more than ironic to me that when I worked at Goldman Sachs, we would have fired that person in a very short period of time. Who knew that non-profits could be further in the Stone Age than Wall Street? We all need to keep at the work of true equality and opportunity in AR for all.
January 18, 2018 at 12:43 pm
Mark Hawthorne
Thanks for your comment, Jim. I agree the AR movement’s attitude toward sexual harassment seems somewhat unique, and that is deeply troubling. I hope more victims will come forward and everyone who is guilty of harassment, assault, or bullying will be held accountable. I also hope that more men like you will make it known that they do not tolerate such behavior and be strong allies for women.
January 18, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Gunita Kaur
Thank you for this well written and very important message. Thank your using your voice to support all forms of equality and justice.
January 18, 2018 at 8:36 pm
Mark Hawthorne
Thank you for reading it and for commenting, Gunita. I appreciate it.
January 19, 2018 at 11:47 am
Allison Rivers Samson
Thank you, Mark. I always appreciate your eloquence in and willingness to call out injustices. Thank you for using your voice to speak truth to power.
January 19, 2018 at 12:59 pm
Mark Hawthorne
Thanks for your feedback, Allison!
January 19, 2018 at 5:07 pm
veganmeditation
Thank you for writing this Mark. I think the AR movement has to be very mindful of this issue and take appropriate action. The AR movement is an ideal place for a sexual predator to move in. As you point out, the movement is mainly women, and the leaders are mainly men. Women in the movement often feel isolated as their view and feelings about animals might marginalize them from their families and communities. They can be lonely at times. A male with a predatorial agenda knows how to speak to vulnerable women, to say what the women feel they want to hear. The predator men can make these women feel that here is a man who really understand how they feel about animals, and that’s when the predator can move in. The problem is multi-leveled as well as 1 women are victimized, 2) Some of the leadership roles are held by men who are not that interested in animal rights, but are more interested in manipulation and control. Such men are in the way of women who would actually be better leaders but the spot is taken; and 3) the animals suffer as the leadership can get off agenda – instead of working towards animal rights, the predatorial men leaders are more interested in using the movement to advance their own egos, increase their level of control. So the animals suffer. This is not to say that all the men are sexual predators, no not at all. But I have to say when I went to the AR conference in Washington DC in 2017, I listened to some of the male speakers and talked with some of the male attendees and I thought… ‘why are you here, you don’t care about animals’ and I avoided them. I think the women may feel very frightened about reporting anything – as they are already marginalized in their personal lives often and thought the AR movement presented a safe space. Are they really going to risk losing the illusion of a safe space and risk being ostracized for speaking truth to abusive power? Thank you for your blogpost.
January 23, 2018 at 1:14 pm
Mark Hawthorne
Thank you for sharing your insights here. I agree with you, too, about the major animal rights conferences, and you illustrate one of the reasons I have all but stopped attending them. If we can’t make this movement a safe space for everyone, we have already failed.
January 22, 2018 at 11:58 am
Laura Moretti
Thank you, Mark, for this long overdue and brave statement. Like many women, I’ve experienced sexual assault by several “leading” men in the animal rights movement and am, I’m truly sorry to say, someone who doesn’t want to speak out for fear of hurting animals. It comes down to something as simple as that.
January 22, 2018 at 5:34 pm
veganmeditation
This is a good beginning of sharing our experiences. This reminds me of how when women who are marginalized by race, ethnicity, are reluctant to report male partners who are also racialized but are abusers. They, the women, are often afraid that the police and courts will treat their partners very harshly on the basis of race – and when the women identifies with her partner through race, she then is also further marginalized. So with us, in the AR movement, we may fear that if we report a male perpetrator of abuse, those outside the movement will scorn the message of AR and the animals will suffer. Or this is also like a woman who is afraid of losing the financial support an abusive male partner provides for her children. These fears are very real and understandable. Women who experience these fears need to feel that they have a safe space to move in, to speak in, and to be silent in if they choose to be silent. But safety is the key. I wonder too about some of the campaigns I heard about at the AR movement, if the perpetrators were no longer in charge, would the campaigns be more on course – I think they might be. To all the women who experience humiliation, abuse, and loneliness in the AR movement – we are there for one another. We are not alone.
January 23, 2018 at 1:07 pm
Mark Hawthorne
Thank you for your comment and your candor, Laura. I hope that we are seeing a genuine shift on this issue and that men like those who assaulted you will be held accountable. If you feel up to it, I encourage you to share your story on the CANHAD site: https://www.canhad.org/
January 25, 2018 at 10:20 am
davebrett99
I don’t agree with something you wrote: “within the animal rights movement it is especially pervasive, in part because there are so many more women than men.” I think you’ve got it backwards. If there were more men than women in the movement harassment would be far worse.
January 26, 2018 at 7:52 am
Mark Hawthorne
Hi, Dave. I can certainly see why it would seem that having more men than women in the movement would result in more instances of sexual harassment; however, I think that having more women than men means there’s a greater pool of women to exploit—hence, more harassment. Here’s another way to look at it: If you’re a man working in an AR organization, and you tell a sexist joke in the office break room, it’s likely to be heard by more women than men—and each woman is a victim.
I am certainly no expert on this, but let’s remember that sexual harassment and assault are about power, and men almost always hold power over women. In the examples I am aware of within the animal rights movement, the typical male offender has harassed and assaulted multiple women. He has a large number of female co-workers, and thus numerous opportunities. This is exacerbated by the “bro culture” rampant in our movement that further excludes women. (See https://medium.com/upfront-project/hey-man-language-and-bro-culture-in-the-animal-protection-movement-efd775461fde) This culture encourages men to bond and protect one another—even from accusations of assault. I know this to be absolutely true in the animal rights movement, where a relatively small population of men—many of whom are lauded as “heroes”—hold sway over a much larger number of women.
January 28, 2018 at 8:31 am
Laura Moretti
In case you’re not aware of this: http://www.animals24-7.org/2018/01/28/is-wayne-pacelle-on-his-way-out-at-the-humane-society-of-the-u-s/ — I’m not a fan of 24-7, but on this I believe he’s hit the nail close to the head.
January 28, 2018 at 11:19 am
Mark Hawthorne
Very interesting article. Thank you, Laura.
January 28, 2018 at 11:21 am
lauramoretti11930393
Before I sent the link, I didn’t realize how many others there were already online. It’s time . . . it’s long overdue . . . for this conversation. Too many damaged lives—and affecting some of the most compassionate people we know.