According to a 2019 survey cited by the Supreme Court Commission on Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession in its newly released report says that victims of sexual harassment in our courts and law offices usually don’t report it, and those who do usually don’t feel they get justice:
The report drew on a 2018 survey that had responses from 418 South Dakota bar members. The survey found 23% said they had experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault while working in the profession.
Only 21.8% of those who said they had been sexually harassed decided to report it. Of those, 52.9% felt their situations weren’t effectively addressed.
And only 57.1% of those who said they had been sexually assaulted reported it — and only 25% of those felt their cases were effectively addressed [Bob Mercer, “New Report Calls for Sexual-Harassment Training in South Dakota’s Courtrooms and Law Offices,” KELO-TV, 2021.05.04].
As much as that dismal 21.8% reporting rate might suggest the USD Law good-old-boy network prevents South Dakotans from holding miscreants in the legal profession accountable (see also Jason Ravnsborg), the sexual harassment reporting rate among South Dakota lawyers and clerks and other court hangers-around may be better than average. One analysis of national data from 2021 through 2016 suggests that 99.8% of sexual harassment victims don’t report their cases to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or state Fair Employment Practices Agencies.
Certain workplace factors increase the risk of sexual harassment, including working in male-dominated fields, and working in settings with significant power differentials and powerful individuals. According to the American Bar Association, in 2020, 37% of lawyers were female.In 2019, the majority of law school students nationwide, 53.3%, were female, but at USD Law, only 39.2% of the students were female.
The South Dakota panel recommends sexual harassment prevention training for all judges, lawyers, and Unified Justice System employees. It recommends writing such a requirement for members of the bar—training within two years of entering the bar, refreshers once every three years afterward—into SDCL 16-18 and similar training for judges into SDCL 16-14. The panel also recommends establishing an ombuds (not an ombudsman, because, you know…) to identify training needs, receive confidential complaints, help complainants understand their options, and conduct informal mediation.
It’s a blue state red state thing all right. In those red states they prefer women to be barefoot and in the kitchen not lawyering up. Just check the gender at all the law schools in the country.