Harvey Weinstein, mired in a sex scandal, was fired by his brother from The Weinstein Co, which may be putting itself up for sale. Richard Shotwell / AP
Harvey Weinstein, mired in a sex scandal, was fired by his brother from The Weinstein Co, which may be putting itself up for sale. Richard Shotwell / AP

Harassment is not limited to abuses of power by the famous. From city streets to corporate suites, it is an epidemic



It is a feature not a bug in the way the global establishment works that the president of the United States and one of the most important moguls in Hollywood are both known sexual predators. It is a feature not a bug that similar stories are an international phenomenon, like that of anti-extremism activist Henda Ayari's revelations of her own harassment at the hands of a Muslim academic she recently asserted was the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Tariq Ramadan.

This is the way men have designed the global system, to enable them to gain power and wield it with near impunity over women as well as other men or even children they may desire or seek to harass to satisfy other psychological needs.

That is why having a president who has been accused multiple times of sexual harassment or impropriety is not new. Once upon a time, the serial abuse of power to achieve (or cover up) sexual conquests was even celebrated in some circles as in the case of John F Kennedy. More recently it nearly ended the presidency of Bill Clinton. Sexual harassment in Hollywood and in the performing arts more broadly is a story as old as the casting couch. And of course, harassment is not limited to abuses of power by the famous. From city streets to corporate suites to the military it is an epidemic. (In the civilian workplace worldwide, substantial percentages of women report sexual harassment from one in three in one US study to 50 per cent in a recent British study. Seventy-nine per cent of women in India report some form of street harassment with the number rising to 89 per cent in Brazil, 93 per cent in Afghanistan and reaching 100 per cent in Argentina and nearly that in Egypt.)

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More from David Rothkopf

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In my own lifetime, I have personally known three different women who were harassed by Latin American heads of state. One demanded a reporter interview him while he lay in bed nude. Another cornered a Wall Street analyst as he took her on a private tour of his capital city. And a third demanded a young NGO worker come up to his suite. We have also seen similar cases of such abuses and excesses, from the bunga bunga parties of Silvio Berlusconi, former Italian prime minister, to the harassment accusations a decade ago against former Israeli president Moshe Katsav, to similar cases against chief executives of companies in literally every corner of the globe.

Each of these cases has produced scandal. But the pattern of harassment has continued because powerful men with good lawyers and deep pockets can often sidestep the worst potential consequences of their actions through out-of-court settlements and political maneuvering. And even the poor men who might harass or abuse a woman traveling with them on a city bus in New Delhi or Mexico City have the cover of the other men and the numbing expectations of their “culture.”

Each time such a scandal happens, outrage ensues. Disturbingly, there is often more coverage of cases when they involve famous, attractive women. In other words, the visibility of these cases is often a form of exploitation itself, cloaking pruriency in the flannel of self-righteousness. But here’s what doesn’t happen: the cases don’t stop.

Why is that?  It is, of course, because every major system of power in the world - political, media, military, theological - is dominated by men.

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In global politics and business the data support this. Women make up only 17 per cent of parliaments. According to a 2015 United Nations report, “Women’s representation among corporate managers, legislators and senior officials remains low, with only about half of countries having shares of women in managerial positions of 30 per cent or more, and none reaching or surpassing parity.” Pathetically predictably, one result of this is that according to a 2016 study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union eight out of 10 women parliamentarians surveyed said they had “experienced some form of psychological or sexual harassment or violence.”

When numbers are this high in this many places worldwide, it is not about national cultures or legal systems, it is about the only system that exists everywhere: a system run by men for men that protects men and enables them to be their worst selves with disproportionately low risk of paying a price for it.

The data is endless. The stories are tragic. The abuse continues. It is vitally important that we hear the brave voices of women calling out their harassers. It is essential we do what we can to ensure that there are serious financial consequences for corporations that harbour and thus enable such behaviour. But in the end, the cold hard fact is that the only way to produce a system that protects us all equally wherever we may live, regardless of historical traditions, is to ensure that those who write the laws and set and enforce the rules actually reflect the make-up of society. Today’s headlines just remind us that until women are fully equally represented at the power centres of society worldwide, as they increasingly are in places like the UAE, they will be victimised by the men who have ensured the one and only truly global system is the one that perpetuates the abuse and subjugation of women.

David Rothkopf is CEO of The Rothkopf Group, a columnist for the Washington Post, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and most recently author of The Great Questions of Tomorrow

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres  

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor 

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

The Brutalist

Director: Brady Corbet

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn

Rating: 3.5/5

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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Biog

Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara

He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada

Father of two sons, grandfather of six

Plays golf once a week

Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business