密歇根新闻广播 性骚扰受害者有权保持沉默

 

Someone once told me you should leave any job about a year before people want you to. Well, as I speak these words, I have no idea how long Congressman¹ John Conyers will be in office.

But I can tell you this: When he does leave, few will wish he had stayed longer. Half a century is probably more than long enough for any job, and Conyers has been there longer than that.

Now his career has been blighted² by a cloud of scandal. Women have come forward to accuse Conyers of grossly inappropriate behavior, mainly sexual.

The congressman has indignantly denied any wrongdoing. But I want to disclose that I have some special knowledge in this case, and that it has had me thinking about the role of the press. There is another woman who reached a financial settlement with Conyers before Marion Brown, the woman who gave a graphic³ account on The Today Show yesterday.

I know that because she had become something of a friend over the years she worked in the congressman's office. She was a supremely⁴ competent professional, unlike many there, and I learned to go to her first if I needed information. Over the years, we had lunch once or twice and talked about her career aspirations⁵. Then, one day, she asked me if she could talk to me off the record, and told me that she was being sexually harassed⁶, and wanted my advice.

I was honored she trusted me enough to confide⁷ in me. What she told me at the time had the ring of truth, and was even more bizarre than previous accounts. Initially⁸, she wasn't propositioned by the congressman, but was informed by another more senior female aide that she would be expected to provide certain services that she had no interest in providing.

Eventually, she said Conyers himself made his wishes plain, and she then either quit or was fired. She came close to filing a lawsuit⁹, but at the last moment, reached a financial settlement.

I heard from her again when the charges against Conyers first surfaced. She was mildly panicked. She is a successful professional, and wants only to be left alone. But one of the other women who worked for Conyers had given her name to CNN, and she was being pestered¹⁰ by that network. She asked me whether she had to talk to them. Ironically, I have spent most of my life trying to get people to talk to the press, but in this case I told her no.

If she didn't want to go public, she didn't have to. There is a right to be let alone. From the standpoint of the public interest, enough other women have come forward.

She thanked me and sounded relieved. I don't know if I was disloyal to the gods of journalism¹¹, but this time I decided¹² to serve the gods of compassion¹³ instead.

I did encouraged her to go public five or six years ago, and she pointed¹⁴ out to me that others had gone to the House Ethics¹⁵ Committee and nothing had happened.

What I am sure about is that justice shouldn't depend on whether an issue is part of the current media story of the week. And maybe that's what needs to get fixed¹⁶ most of all.

Jack¹⁷ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁸. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 blighted   

adj.枯萎的，摧毁的

参考例句：

• Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
• She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 supremely   

adv.无上地，崇高地

参考例句：

• They managed it all supremely well. 这件事他们干得极其出色。
• I consider a supremely beautiful gesture. 我觉得这是非常优雅的姿态。

5 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

6 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

7 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

10 pestered   

使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Journalists pestered neighbours for information. 记者缠着邻居打听消息。
• The little girl pestered the travellers for money. 那个小女孩缠着游客要钱。

11 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

16 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。