I was told, in more ways than one, to be quiet, not always in those exact words. Sometimes it came as a joke and sometimes as a threat. Sometimes, as a settlement offer that would have allowed everyone to move on, except for the truth. I was initially afraid to speak out for fear of losing my job due to what I was experiencing in my very own work environment.
For years, I worked in a male-dominated technical environment where authority was concentrated in the hands of a few men. What began as inappropriate comments escalated into verbal sexual harassment, intimidation, and isolation. When I attempted to speak up, I was blocked from filing complaints. When I sought internal resolution, paperwork disappeared. When I asked to make a statement during my termination, I was told, “You are going to have to do what you have to do, but not here.”
What I experienced was not an isolated incident. It was part of a system that protected tenure and power over truth and safety. And while my case remains legally sensitive, what I can say publicly is this: suppressing women’s voices in the workplace is not a relic of the past. It is a present and persistent failure of leadership.
Recent data reinforces what too many women already know. According to one report, workplace retaliation remains one of the most reported barriers preventing women from formally filing harassment complaints. Fear of career damage continues to outweigh trust in corporate systems.
Another finding suggests incremental improvement. Fewer women report encountering non-inclusive conduct at work. However, 43% still say they faced microaggressions, harassment, or both in a single year. Specifically, 31% experienced microaggressions, 4% reported sexual harassment, and 8% encountered other forms of workplace harassment.
These numbers are not abstract to me. They are a lived reality. When leadership prioritizes loyalty to longstanding executives over accountability, it sends a message. When HR departments fail to escalate or even retain documented complaints, it reinforces that message. And when women who speak up are pushed out while those accused are promoted, the silence becomes systemic.
I was offered a financial settlement. Many people advised me to take it and move on. Settlements are designed to close doors, to seal stories behind confidentiality agreements. But I refused. I refused because I realized this was not only about my experience. It was about the younger women entering that same workplace. It was about my daughter. It was about every woman who has been told she is overreacting, misinterpreting, or jeopardizing her career by speaking out.
In my view, organizations that fail to address misconduct at senior levels experience long-term cultural erosion and measurable declines in employee trust and retention. Culture is not defined by mission statements; it is defined by what leadership tolerates.
Corporate leaders, especially those who claim to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion, must confront this reality honestly. One survey highlights that employee trust directly correlates with perceptions of fair treatment within organizations. When employees believe that misconduct is handled inconsistently or protected by hierarchy, trust collapses.
Trust is not a branding strategy. It is a responsibility. This issue also demands policy-level scrutiny. Research indicates how mandatory arbitration clauses and confidential settlements have historically limited transparency around workplace misconduct. While reforms have begun in certain sectors, enforcement and oversight remain uneven.
As someone who chose to represent myself at one stage in my legal fight, I learned firsthand how intimidating the system can be. Legal processes are complex. Power imbalances are real. Many women accept settlements not because justice has been achieved, but because exhaustion has set in.
We should ask ourselves why endurance, rather than resolution, so often becomes the measure of success for women seeking accountability. I have not written this out of bitterness. It is written out of clarity, and I have come to understand that silence protects systems, not people.
The broader economic implications are also significant. From my perspective, inclusive leadership directly correlates with innovation, productivity, and long-term financial performance. Companies that create psychologically safe environments outperform those that rely on rigid hierarchies and unchecked authority. Yet psychological safety cannot exist where fear prevails.
To policymakers, I say this: transparency must be strengthened, protections must be enforced, and retaliation must carry real consequences. To CEOs, particularly women in leadership, I urge you to go beyond symbolic support. Audit your complaint procedures. Examine patterns of promotion and termination. Ask whether tenure has ever outweighed truth.
And to the women who feel isolated in their experiences: you are not alone. Your voice is not an inconvenience. It is a catalyst. The solution is not simply encouraging women to speak up. It is building systems that listen, respond, and protect. It is ensuring that HR departments function independently, that leadership is trained in ethical power dynamics, and that retaliation is treated as seriously as the original offense.
I was told, implicitly and explicitly, to accept what happened and move on. Instead, I chose to speak. I speak now not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. Silence may protect reputations in the short term, but it corrodes integrity over time. And workplaces built on suppressed voices are not strong; they are fragile.
If we truly believe in equality, then women’s voices cannot remain conditional. They cannot depend on settlement terms, internal politics, or fear of retaliation. I was told to be quiet. I chose not to be. And that choice, however difficult, is where change begins.
About the Author:
Zorina Dowd is a workplace accountability advocate and legal self-representative who speaks on systemic suppression of women’s voices in corporate environments. After refusing a financial settlement in her own harassment case, she now advocates for stronger institutional safeguards and leadership accountability in the workplace.
