WOMEN MUST PUT AN END TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Noted Woman's Rights Lawyer Speaks Out

"It is up to women to put an end to sexual harassment," says noted women's rights attorney Cecile C. Weich. "Women must do so by raising their sons to respect women and treat them as equals at home and in the workplace. When a generation of boys schooled in equality reaches adulthood, then we will see change for the better."

"Women have been inching up, but there is still a glass ceiling that holds many women back," said Weich. "I would like to think I have paved the way for my daughters-in-law, I worked, raised my sons and built up a law practice but there are many young men out there today who were not taught to respect women as equals."

Weich, who specializes in sexual harassment cases, and a member of the New York Advisory Committee of the Federal Civil Rights Commission, says "sexual harassment can occur when a man is in a position to affect a women's employment by trying to link her salary or advancement to possible sexual gratification."

Taking on a sexual harassment lawsuit is not for the faint-hearted. To make a case, a women needs solid proof of the harassment and the financial resources to pay for costly litigations.

What's more, the plaintiff needs to be resigned to the fact that she will probably not work in her field. "As a result," according to Weich, "99 percent of women whose family depends on their income will not sue."

Cecile C. Weich is a New York and Washington, D.C., attorney specializing in women's legal rights. She comments regularly on sexual harassment issues, divorce, pre-nuptial agreements and other social, economic and political concerns of women.