Every day, millions of women around the world deal with sexual harassment. I've experienced it, all my female friends have experienced it, and I'm willing to bet that the majority of women reading this right now have had to deal with at least one instance of verbal or physical sexual harassment during their lifetime.
Needless to say, it's not exactly a rare occurrence. So, when it does happen, it's important to report it - otherwise, it's likely to keep on happening forever. And that's exactly what Mariah Nonnemacher did. Or, at least, what she tried to do.
Nonnemacher, a 26-year-old actor and director from Arkansas, visited Paris recently to catch up with a friend. Unfortunately, her trip was ruined somewhat by sexual harassment from a member of staff at the hostel she was staying at.
On the very first morning of her trip, Nonnemacher, her friend, and several other women accompanying them were made to feel uncomfortable by a man who served them breakfast at the hostel. According to her, he kept staring at them, quizzing them about whether or not they had boyfriends, and even asking them to give him their phone numbers.
And, if that wasn't bad enough, when they rejected his advances, he took their drinks away from them and poured them down the sink.
Not wanting to cause too much of a fuss, the group of women ignored the hostel worker's behavior, and decided to simply avoid him by eating breakfast elsewhere for the remainder of their trip.
However, when it was time to check out of the hostel, Nonnemacher says she was accosted by the same male member of staff, who then proceeded to ridicule her in front of other guests.
"He said 'you're showing too much cleavage, it's not appropriate'," she told BuzzFeed News. "There were people in the landing and the lobby around to hear – it's embarrassing for one, and not that I should have to explain it, but I wasn't wearing anything provocative. Even if it was, it was very much victim-blaming – a ridiculous, misogynistic view."
This was a step too far for the 26-year-old, who decided to complain about the man to the hostel. However, the manager of the facility, Paul Benichou, wasn't particularly understanding in his response.
This was the email she received after voicing her complaint:
"After investigation, I am really sorry to tell you that ... it turns out that you were dressed provocatively with a plunging neckline. This is a mistake, because when traveling and frequenting a hotel where there are many many men, it is more prudent, to avoid any harassment to dress as well."
Nonnemacher then responded to this, saying his comments were inappropriate. But what she received after that was even worse.
"What kind of girl are you? You don’t recognize all what I said?! I am sorry, I can do nothing for you," the second email said. "You do what you want at your home, but not in a public area! My hostel is not a club to date and/or to have an affair!"
The tourist later posted the correspondence between herself and the hostel on social media in the hopes that it would warn other young women about the sort of people that worked there.
"I just wanted to warn other girls who may want to stay there", she said. "If anything were to happen with one of their staff members, they don't respect personal boundaries – if you were dressed 'risqué' it's your fault. Stay away from this place – it's bad."
The hotel manager has since stated that he stands by his claims, and essentially blames Nonnemacher for the abuse she received because her top was apparently low-cut. This sort of attitude just goes to demonstrate exactly why sexual harassment is still such a widespread issue, and how so much more needs to be done in order to stop it.
