If anyone still believes that the Epstein/Weinstein attitude is isolated to Hollywood, I'm currently trying to console a young law student who was messaged by the head of a (luckily, small) law firm, who emphasised his "connections" and what he could do for her career...

...before calling her his "Cinderella" and asking her to come on holiday with him. He offered her an internship, before immediately saying (and frequently repeating) "you wouldn't be my employee though" which opened up "a lot of benefits" for her...

...following a phone call about said internship, which she managed to keep professional, he text her to say her "voice was sexy" and he'd like to hear it more. Once again, he offered to "take her away", and mentioned how many career jobs he could open for her...

By my estimations, there's at least a 30 year age gap between them. That, combined with the repeated mention of his "connections" and how many people he knew, placed her in a really difficult situation. I'm glad she was able to talk to me about it, and we're looking at options..

...but she was absolutely terrified that if she said something he didn't like, he would "ruin [her] name before [she]'d even secured a training contract". From his attitude, it is clear that he's done this before to other young women, but he's still on LinkedIn, Twitter etc.

I'm esp glad she came to me because others she had tried to talk to told her not to 'rock the boat', because it was hard enough being a young woman of colour in law. And they're not necessarily wrong.

In an attempt to secure a training contract, this beautiful young woman is dying her dark hair blonde, and perma-straightening it. She's signed up for a liquid-only diet to take for the months before interviews. She's thinking of getting a loan to buy 'nicer' interview clothes...

...and this is all just to get her foot in the door. Of course young women don't report these people; these arseholes are predators and they know who they can intimidate. Does the head of this law firm *actually* have any connections? It's highly doubtful.

But can she, and many others like her, afford to run the risk of exposing him and dealing with any potential fallout, having ploughed tens of thousands of pounds into qualifying as a lawyer? Of course not.

This is a conversation we all need to have, and it's about diversity. Diversity isn't just seeing yourself represented. It's knowing that there are the opportunities there for you.

This young woman wouldn't have been a target, and wouldn't have been so scared to report him, if the odds weren't already stacked against her. I'm able to share her story because I'm white, 450 miles away from the man who can supposedly ruin careers, and I have a TC lined up.

I also have really bloody strong female role models in my life, who are able to help me fight things like this tooth and nail (shout out to @ClaireSmethurs3).

I guess my point is that this shit happens, and it happens frequently. It's not just the abusive CEOs who send inappropriate messages, it's the inherent difficulty of starting a legal career if you're a PoC/Black, LGBTQ+, working class, disabled, or a woman.

And these all add up to a situation where you are open for abuse and coercion in a way others aren't, and you are unable to do anything about it. And it sucks. And there was nothing I could say to this young woman to make it better, because we both know the game.

I want to end this thread by saying that if you *ever* get inappropriate messages, or messages you think are inappropriate, or make you even a bit uncomfortable: this isn't my first time dealing with this, and it won't be the last. My DMs are open. You're not alone.