Sexual Harassment—A Serious Problem Persists

In 1991, the explosive testimony by Anita Hill at the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Clarence Thomas’s nomination to the Supreme Court placed the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace front and center in the public consciousness. The controversial treatment accorded to Hill by the all-male, all-white committee galvanized women, spurred a significant increase in the reporting of sexual harassment, and led to remedial legislation by Congress.