Nearly 30 years after the televised hearings in which she detailed alleged sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill still stands as a prominent figure in the ongoing fight against disgusting people doing disgusting things. On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, Hill sat down with host John Oliver to discuss how the conversation has moved forward since her pivotal early '90s moment and the lasting impact of this generation's #MeToo movement.
"There's been a change in public attitude and there's been a change in the amount of information that we have about sexual harassment," Hill, at around the 28-minute mark in the video above, said of the current climate. "There's certainly more awareness after the #MeToo movement. Even a few years ago, people were ambivalent about what the consequences should be if someone is behaving incredibly badly and abusing people they work with."
Asked what she believes men's role should be in ending sexual harassment, Hill pointed to the inherent complicity of silence. "You are needed," she told Oliver. "We need you to step up and to realize at this point in team there are no innocent bystanders. If you are aware of something, you acknowledge it, you know it's wrong, but you don't do anything about it, it's the same as participating in it."
Catch the full Hill x Oliver interview, as well as the rest of Oliver's expansive workplace sexual harassment segment, via the video up top.
