PROFESSOR Anita Hill doesn't look back. She made it clear yesterday afternoon she was in Dublin to talk about sexual harassment as an issue, rather than a personal experience.
The woman whose name will forever be associated with the US Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas does not give interviews, but agreed to comment on her status as a worldwide role model.
"I try to carry these issues forward and to make some sense out of it for women. That's the responsibility, as it is for other women," she told The Irish Times. Then she smiled: "It's just that I'm a lot more visible than most."
Earlier the chairperson of the Labour Court, Ms Evelyn Owens, said the Hill Thomas case had resulted in a large increase in the number of allegations of sexual harassment in Ireland in 1992.
The court, which normally ruled on fewer than three cases a year, dealt with eight cases in 1992. Prof Hill's case was "almost certainly a factor," Ms Owens said.
The Oklahoma law professor testified to the Senate judiciary committee in late 1991 that her former boss, Judge Thomas, had sexually harassed her. The Senate disregarded her evidence and ratified Judge Thomas's nomination to the US Supreme Court.
Prof Hill described herself as "an awkward voice speaking out about problems in the workplace. High profile cases, such as the recent award in California of $7 million to a woman, did not reflect the reality in the US, she said. "Most women today cannot find lawyers experienced enough to pursue their claims."
The 1995 Pentagon survey of the military found more than one in two women complaining of sexual harassment. The result was that makers are now examining the role of women in the military," she said, putting another burden on women who want to join up.
She was asked whether she believed President Clinton should face legal action from Paula Jones, the woman who has accused him of demanding sexual favours. She said there were legal technicalities which protected the President from litigation because of his position.
Ms Diana Lamplugh, whose daughter Susie was murdered in 1986, said women were exceptionally good at defusing violent situations and doing dangerous jobs. However when it came to sexual, harassment in the workplace, "women found it much more difficult to defuse or deal with sexual harassment and went into what we think is like the domestic violence mode."