Can't change these cultures

Why is everyone surprised that sexual harassment happens in sports, regardless of neither the gender of the perpetrator, nor that of the victim?  Why is it a surprise that it happens in politics, on the Hill, in the offices of ministers?  Why the shock when it happens in the world of entertainment, or even the workplace in general?  And, most obvious, why is it a jolt in the hierarchical military?

Professional athletes never grow up and are at the mercy of coaches and trainers who tell them how talented and special they are.  They believe it.  They also believe that their coaches are all-powerful -- people who can make or break their careers, which is true.  The diddlers thrive in this environment and prey on vulnerable players who may have to live far from home without the protection, love and guardianship of their families.

People who insist this culture has to change are living in a fantasy.  It won't because parents push these kids from a very young age to achieve greatness and reap the truckloads of money that go along with it.  That's just the way it is, tragic, but it won't change unless every kid who is molested comes forward immediately and reports it.  Many did, but were ignored.  However, with the publicity and light that is being shone on the abuse in the public thoroughfare, maybe it will stop.

As for politics, powerful ministers and MPs have total control over their staffs.  I should know because I worked for a couple on contract back in the seventies, before I joined the public service and found safety and security.  Both -- as well as male members of their staffs -- came on to me repeatedly, inferring that my job security was at their mercy and in their control and that I had to "put out", as the degrading description implies, if I wanted to succeed.  I won't tell you how that turned out, but suffice to say it was an unpleasant line I was forced to tread.

During my time in the private sector, working for DuPont of Canada, IBM and Maclean-Hunter in Toronto, I can't tell you how many times a boss or colleague knocked on my hotel room door at midnight during business trips, hoping to come in for a so-called "night cap".  Again, my lips are sealed, but I was certainly vulnerable and had to navigate, cajole and humour such boors and suitors in such a way so as to not "offend" them with refusals.  

In the entertainment industry, the "casting couch" is where the future of many a star lay, so to speak.  No need to go on more about this obvious predicament. 

But the most obvious milieu where sexual harassment is rampant is the military.  As I said, it's a hierarchical workplace, where rank is well-defined and to which serving members rigidly adhere.  Notice the word "serving" in there?  That's the key.  You join the military and you do what your superiors order you to.  As a snarling Jack Nicholson so succinctly put it to Tom Cruise in 'A Few Good Men':  "You follow orders son, or people die."  That attitude and culture often bleeds over to the police (including the RCMP, where Lucki has basically done nothing) -- another place where, with the wrong chief, toxicity can also thrive.  

So, there you have it:  Nothing will change.