Gretchen Carlson Hopes Her Experience Will Help Others Speak Out About Sexual Harassment

On Friday, Gretchen Carlson gave her first interview since she filed a landmark sexual harassment case against her former Fox News boss Roger Ailes. During the interview with ABC News’ 20/20, Carlson told Amy Robach she had experienced sexual harassment early in her career and now wants to help speak out about the issue.

When Carlson filed her sexual harassment suit in July, it set off a chain of events that led to Ailes being ousted from the network. More women came forward, including Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, alleging Ailes also harassed them and created an antagonistic work environment. While Carlson settled out of court with Ailes, she said during the 20/20 interview that some women are still afraid to come forward if they are harassed and this type of mentality needs to stop:

“I don’t think we should judge women if they have waited because look at how we react to women when they finally do come forward. They’re accused of making it up. We have to make it a safer environment so that it’s no longer ‘he said, she said’ but maybe just ‘she said.'”

Carlson also described during the interview at how she experienced sexual harassment earlier in her career. She said as she was starting out as a television personality she was the victim of unwanted sexual advances, which took her by surprise. She now said she wants to start helping victims of sexual harassment and assist in making this a more transparent issue:

“What it technically means is that if this happens to you at work nobody will ever know about it. We as a country have to come up with a solution for every single one of them, to feel comfortable enough to come forward and not feel like they’re going to lose their job. And that’s what I hope to at least start the discussion on.”

In a separate interview with Time magazine, she said she hopes to testify before congress in order help the current laws on forced arbitration. Check out the rest of the 20/20 interview below.

(Via ABC News & Time magazine)

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