Last weekend, I noticed a common theme in several stories in the Sunday Times. There were three major stories concerning the sexual harassment and assault of women. On the front page of the main section, there was an in depth story detailing the investigation and acts of Dr. Lawrence Nassar, who sexually assaulted numerous young female athletes. On the front page of the Sunday Review was an interview with Uma Thurman who detailed the sexual harassment and assault she suffered by Harvey Weinstein. Also contained in the Sunday Review section was an editorial concerning the sexual assault allegations Dylan Farrow made against Woody Allen twenty-five years ago.

Obviously, reading these three stories saddened me. But they also brought me back to 1991. At that time, I was a young attorney in practice at a large New York City law firm and Anita Hill was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She testified that Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the EEOC. I was transfixed by her testimony at the time.  I believed that she was speaking her truth as her assertions were not vastly dissimilar to incidents that had occurred to me while working and to most of my female colleagues.

While Clarence Thomas went onto a seat on the Supreme Court, many of us at the time- myself included-were hopeful that Ms. Hill’s testimony had finally shed light on a subject that needed to be addressed. We were also optimistic that, as a result, actions that were apparently acceptable in the past would be changed. We were certain that we were at a historical moment.

The subsequent passing of legislation concerning hostile work environment was, for me, a promising sign that necessary change was happening. But the recent revelations of the #metoo movement makes me unhappily question whether any true change occurred. Reading the allegations against previously well respected journalists such as Charlie Rose, Glen Thrush, Michael Oreskes, and Matt Lauer as well as numerous other men made me wonder what, if any, effect the legislation had. It saddens me to think that all of the legislative change that occurred in the last thirty years did nothing to change concrete behavior.

I find myself hopeful again that we are at a historical moment wherein the actual behavior will change. What do you think?