Dismantling the Patriarchy, One Newsletter At a Time.
After reading Lena's Linkedin post “Sorry, Not Sorry: My Apology Addiction” "I am adding a “sexual misconduct clause” into all of my investment agreements."
If women in tech stop apologizing, we might just be able to shut the sexist shit down. - Athena Talks
Let's talk about an uncomfortable truth, sexual harassment and assault is common in the tech industry. The only reason we don't hear more about it is because the men who perpetrate it the most are also the ones who hold the "keys to the kingdom"- as investors or powerful industry figures, women don't want to ruin their careers by speaking out.
medium.com
This is so important in the tech industry and I imagine it could cross industries in various ways with contractual based work. What are your thoughts on this?




Being a CEO now, and more specifically, being in the back rooms of many companies before Imzy, I can tell you this is a massive problem. It happens ALL the time. I want to say that in previous jobs, this was a problem that was brought up probably once every other week. Like most culture problems, it is something that becomes a norm and once a norm it is very hard to change, also harder to recognize.
We started Imzy a bit differently. We have quite a diverse team (started out 50% women) and on our first day, we talked about how we have a zero tolerance policy. ZERO. We have no tolerance for this issue whatsoever. If someone is inappropriate to a coworker sexually, they will be fired.
It's important to set expectations and boundaries. It's important to do this from day one. We have been very intentional in a number of areas like this both in our company and on our site.
Wow, this is so brilliant. It's really simple and there's really not any reason NOT to do it. No investor can really object to it unless they basically want to say that yes, they want to be allowed to sexually harass people, in which case, goodbye. And if they don't plan on doing that, then no problem! You can sign it.
Really great way of protecting the people in the company from these people who have SO MUCH power over them. Reminds me of Ke$ha's situation with her producer being able to completely control her life and music and not being able to escape this man who had abused her.
This is fantastic! It seems like such an obvious, no-brainer idea... and yet she's absolutely gutsy for implementing it and sticking to it. And that's wonderful, because that paves the way for the next person to do the same, and the next person, and the next person.
Also, @Dan, mad props for the zero tolerance policy.
I can't think of a single reason why this WOULDN'T be a good idea. I'm so grateful for the brave women (and men) who are standing up and speaking out and making positive changes.