Presumption of Guilt in Sexual Harassment Cases.

Since October 16, 2017, the hashtag #metoo has been used by many women to speak up about Sexual Harassment they have experienced. By November, 2.3 million tweets and 77 million Facebook posts have used #metoo hashtag. Sexual Harassment is a severe workplace code violation and in some cases a criminal offense. Every case of Sexual Harassment should be investigated by appropriate authorities.

Unfortunately, in the current political climate any man accused of Sexual Harassment is presumed guilty by the Court of Public Opinion. Anyone who publicly supports accused men's Presumption of Innocence is subject to a stream of vile abuse himself or herself. Even though the Court of Public Opinion can not sentence anyone to incarceration, it can pressure any company to fire an employee and it can effectively blacklist a person.

While Presumption of Innocence existed, it played an important part in protecting innocent men. While nationwide statistics may not be available, some local statistics illustrate the point. During the 2015-2016 academic year, 27 faculty and staff members of Northwestern University have been accused of Sexual Harassment. In 18 cases, complainant elected to proceed with formal resolution and 17 cases were investigated. Four of the accused were found guilty and lost their job, while 12 of the accused were acquitted. When the accused are presumed innocent, about 15% of them are convicted.

Presumption of Guilt in Sexual Harassment cases would bring drastic changes to every workplace. Almost all of the accused would be fired and blacklisted. Many people see the positive aspect of Presumption of Guilt -- the fact that more men guilty of Sexual Harassment would be blacklisted. But Presumption of Guilt has two negative aspects. First, it would get many innocent men blacklisted. Second, it would put every male employee in danger of being falsely accused and blacklisted. Even though most women would never make a false accusation, just one accusation is enough to destroy a man's career.

Under Presumption of Guilt, hundreds of thousands of men per year will lose their careers to unsubstantiated accusations. Most men are valued by society and their families as providers. For them the loss of career would be a life-shattering experience. Many or most of male employees will live in fear of false accusations.

Presumption of Guilt will bring enormous suffering to hundreds of thousands of innocent men. Hopefully it would have positive aspects not intended by those who support such policy. Hopefully, hundreds of thousands of men whose lives are destroyed by unsubstantiated accusations would find a new purpose in life -- advocating for Men's Human Rights. Hopefully, more men will understand that we are being discriminated against in many ways. Hopefully, the next generation of men will be conscious of the ways men are discriminated against and men's collective interests.

We are not asking for understanding from those who are incapable of it. We are grateful to extraordinary men and especially women who publicly defend Presumption of Innocence.