COMPLICIT

A thoroughly researched and deeply personal examination of how we unintentionally condone sexual misconduct and other workplace abuses.

When Reah Bravo was hired to work on the Charlie Rose show, the open secret of Rose's behavior toward women didn't deter her from pursuing a position she felt could launch her career in broadcast journalism. She believed that she would be more than capable of handling any unprofessional behavior that might come her way. But she soon learned that the discrepancy between the strong, independently minded woman she believed herself to be and the reality of her culturally conditioned, deferential behavior was vast. No person can accurately predict how one will respond in an abusive situation until one is in it. In a post-#MeToo world, where many corporations mandate trainings to prevent misconduct, how do abusers continue to victimize their colleagues? When we live in a society where many feminist ideals are mainstream and women make up a significant percentage of the workforce, why is gender harassment more prevalent than ever? In Complicit, Bravo weaves her professional and personal experiences with insights from experts and other victims to reveal the psychological and cultural forces that make us all enablers of a sexist status quo. The result is a nuanced and comprehensive view of the ways we contribute to environments that harm the most vulnerable among us. With searing research and enlightening commentary, Bravo shines a light on what exactly makes professional misconduct and toxic work environments so pervasive and charts a path towards affecting real change. Reah Bravo was a corporate speechwriter based in both Milan and New York, a career she began in 2008, when joining the nearly half of all sexually harassed women in America who wind up leaving their jobs. Prior that, she worked for the PBS program Charlie Rose, where she produced political and other news segments. She has her Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, and served as a Fulbright Fellow in Bahrain. Bravo currently lives in Belgium, where she was a stay-at-home mom to two sons while writing Complicit. She credits the country's family-friendly social policies for making possible what would have been far more difficult in the United States: the publication of her first book.