I think one of the biggest causal factors in how toxic the workplace has become around sexual harassment is this: Women almost always exercise the option to wait and and see how a situation pans out and then decide to come forward later -- even years down the road in many cases.

Let me explain: There are a lot of shitty people out there, and unfortunately working with other people in a large company is going to cause you to interact with a few shitty people who do shifty things to you. But if a co-worker did something shitty where our shared social understand is a little more clear, such as stole a computer from your desk, you would do something about that problem more immediately. You wouldn't wait around for years until you've already been fired (for a completely unrelated reason) and then try to sue the company for a hostile work environment and then bring up the accusation, "Tom stole my computer from my desk 3 years ago, and now he's the head of our department! This company has serious theft issues and it has become a hostile workplace for me!" But for some reason, the after-the-fact accusation is common parlance when it comes to sexual harassment.

If genuine sexual harassment is taking place (once again, there are a lot of shitty people out there) you should have all avenues open to you so you can rectify the situation, but you need to bring it up when it is happening or at least while it is recent history. If someone steals your computer, you report it right away because that is the only time you have full context of the situation and can actually do something about it. Sexual harassment should be no different -- deal with it right away.

I've been a professional in the tech industry for 12 years now -- I've never been involved in in a sexual harassment case but I've seen my fair share being played out around me. In every case that I was familiar with, allegations of any misconduct were not not brought forth by the accuser until long after the harassment had stopped. I'm a skeptic, and when so much time has passed before any accusations are made to someone in authority, it makes me question how authentic the charges actually are. In my honest opinion, I think in these cases the women were just sitting on the information until conditions had changed to where they could benefit or profit from bringing up the past indiscretions. And I can only assume, but I do believe that in a portion of these cases the accusing women were much more complicit in the "harassment" during the period that it was actually happening, but retroactively paint it as more aggressive/traumatic after the fact when it is clear that no romantic relationship is going to blossom from it.

That really is the crux of this issue in my opinion: You shouldn't have the option to wait around and see what happens before making an accusation like that. Make no mistake--this is a pussy pass. If somebody does something that is genuinely shitty to you, you need to report it immediately. Having the option to bring it up down the road because conditions have changed to where you can win cash and prizes for bringing the accusation up (ahem, all of you fame-seeking #metoo bitches) has turned this aspect of the workplace environment toxic.

I'll share a case of this that I saw take place in the comments; I think you gents may find it interesting. If you guys have any similar stories please share -- it will be some entertaining bathroom reading for me. Good day, gentlemen.