She was encouraged not to report it.
Jessica Rowe has never pulled any punches. She’s been open about her IVF and her post-natal depression, and now, in her new autobiography, she’s detailed the day she was almost sexually assaulted in her workplace.
Rowe describes the awful moment she was accosted by a drunk news director who’d returned to the office after a boozy long lunch in Is This My Beautiful Life?
The veteran journalist, who now appears on Studio 10, writes that the unnamed director cornered her and pressed his body against hers.
“I managed to get away into one of the editing suites, where I rang one of the senior executives in tears. He counselled me and suggested that it wasn’t a big deal; I got the distinct impression I should keep my mouth shut if I wanted to stay working in that newsroom.”
That’s just what she did.
Australian commercial television networks, like many of the veterans who work for them, remain behind the times, chauvinistic, and hurtling towards obsolescence.
“I knew that working in the media could be tough and it wasn’t a career for the faint-hearted. I also understood how brutal it could be for women,” Rowe writes.
“Commercial television is still primarily run by men, and some of them have very outdated, sexist views.”
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Top Comments
Definition of sexual assault: any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.
I am very interested in what Jessica Rowe has to say. For some reason, she seems to often be hated and given a hard time in the workplace - is it because she is intelligent? Articulate? Speaks her mind? People in power often don't like that and have fee the need to put the bright ones "in their place".
I too have struggled in the workforce with these issues, and am often "not liked" though I do my job very well and keep my head out of trouble. I try my best, and to be honest, my best is very, very good, but I often am victim to some strange behaviors by others that really undermine me in the workplace. I don't like confrontation, and am quite sensitive, so when this kind of thing happens, I'll generally leave.
It makes me sad and lose confidence in myself because I really don't know why I'm so "unlikeable". I work hard, do everything I'm supposed to do and more, don't rock any boats, and just try to be a good employee. There's a lot of "mean girls" behavior and bitching and backstabbing that goes on in the world that I just don't like to be a part of, but have often been a victim of.
My solution has been to become self employed. I feel so much better, don't have to deal with these negative behaviors and am earning more than ever which shows me that my work ethic is spot on and that I have talent and capabilities beyond any roles I have been limited to previously.
I hope that Jessica remains strong through the difficulties she has faced in the workforce, and continues to be successful, as she deserves to be.