By Taina Bien-Aimé

In 1978, Mechelle Vinson, a Black bank employee in Washington D.C., sued her company for sexual harassment and unwelcome sexual demands by her supervisor. Her case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which recognized for the first time in the U.S. that the hostile work environment her boss created was a form of  sex discrimination. The Court also noted that apparent voluntary participation in sexual activity does not mean consent when power and coercion are involved.

While this landmark case revolutionized workplace sexual harassment policies, a public reckoning of the devastating impact of such crimes in the lives of women and calls for accountability did not occur until the #MeToo movement ignited almost 30 years later.

Laws are key tools in holding perpetrators accountable and protecting survivors but upending the harmful societal practices that paralyze women and girls from reaching their full potential proceeds at a snail’s pace.

For centuries, courts, policymakers, institutions, and prevailing judgement generally concluded that if a woman suffered abuse at home, at work, or in the community, the presumption of consent negated the harm done.

Read the full piece at No More.