Witness History
Witness History
The fight to make sexual harassment a crime
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March 17, 2020
9 minutes
Available for over a year
In 1986, the US Supreme Court heard a landmark case which would define sexual harassment as a crime in America. The lawsuit, brought by bank clerk Mechelle Vinson, established that abuse in the workplace was a breach of civil rights. It was built on pioneering legal scholarship by feminist lawyer Catharine MacKinnon, who talks to Sharon Hemans.
PHOTO: Mechelle Vinson in 1986 (Getty Images)