Justice

Eric Trump's Comments on Ivanka and Sexual Harassment

August 2nd 2016

Like father like son.

Donald Trump made it clear that he thinks his daughter should simply quit her job if she is ever sexually harassed at work. Trump's son, Eric Trump, went even further with his own victim-blaming take Tuesday on "CBS This Morning."

Eric TrumpYouTube/One Post - youtube.com

Asked about his father's sexual harassment comments, Eric Trump offered his own two cents: "There's no question that it should obviously be addressed and be addressed strongly," he said. Meaning what? That his sister, Ivanka, would never "allow herself" to be put in a situation like that, he stressed.

"Ivanka is a strong, powerful woman," Eric Trump said. "She wouldn't allow herself to be [subjected] to it. And by the way, you should certainly take it up with human resources. And I think she definitely would, as a strong person. At the same time, I don’t think she would allow herself to be subjected to it."

As if other women do?

Based on their comments, both Eric Trump and his father place the responsibility for avoiding workplace sexual harassment on the victim rather than on the harasser. That's victim blaming. A victim's character is not the reason for harassment; the perpetrator's character is at fault.

One in three women say they have experienced sexual harassment at work, according to a 2015 survey by Cosmopolitan. And much of that sexual harassment is beyond a victim's control, despite what Eric Trump suggested: 44 percent of women in the survey said that they have experienced "unwanted touching sexual advances."

Eric Trump's comments elicited a virtual eye roll from Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Kelly, you'll recall, told Fox News investigators that disgraced former Fox News chief Roger Ailes made "unwanted sexual advances toward her about 10 years ago," according to an anonymously sourced story in New York magazine.

Eric Trump took to Twitter following the interview to clarify his comments and to reiterate that he sees sexual harassment as unacceptable and an absolute "no go."

[h/t Jezebel]

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