Sexual harassment always existed: Female firefighter

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Dubai - Brenda said she was the only one to step out and file a sex discrimination lawsuit in 1978 against the New York City fire department.

By Anjana Sankar

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Published: Sun 16 Feb 2020, 10:25 PM

Last updated: Mon 17 Feb 2020, 12:34 AM

When Captain Brenda Berkman broke into an all-male bastion and became the pioneering female fire fighter in the US, she and her colleagues were harassed and sexually assaulted. And no one believed them when they dared to complain. 
"The Me Too movement may have got its name recently. But, sexual harassment at work place existed as an issue forever. In the 1980s and 90s, myself and other women in the New York City fire department was complaining about a staff sexual assaulting us," Berkman told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Global Women's Forum Dubai (GWFD) on Sunday.
Berkman said what was different now is that women supporting other women when they complain about bad behaviour or impossible working conditions. "In our times, we would complain but no one listened or believed. So, it is very important that women be believed, and secondly, other women not undermine these women who have the courage to come forward and speak up."
Brenda, a qualified lawyer, was among the 90 women who showed up for the exams when New York fire department opened up the position in 1977 for the first time for women. "But no one passed."
Brenda said she was the only one to step out and file a sex discrimination lawsuit in 1978 against the New York City fire department.
"Immediately, I began to face harassment. When I won in 1982, I immediately started to experience a lot of discrimination and harassment not only from my male colleagues but also from media, politicians. There were death threats and pornography materials sent to my home, followed on streets and yelled at," said Brenda.
But that was just beginning of the barriers the female firefighters had to face. There were demonstrations and protests against them. But with all the challenges, Brenda said she did not quit. 
"I realised that while going into burning buildings require courage, what requires me to be really courageous is just refusing to quit a job that I really loved and I could be to good at. I had to stand up for other women and if I quit, they would lose hope and quit too," she said.
As time passed there was slow acceptance - female fire fighters did many challenging jobs including being the emergency responder to 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. 
"Nobody could have imagined it. There was total devastation. We did not have the resources in terms of equipment or personnel to manage it in the way we wanted to. Tens of thousands of people wanted help. And me, and my team, had no option to leave. That day we came back home after 13 hours on the frontlines.That was the most challenging assignment I was ever on." 
anjana@khaleejtimes.com


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