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So I just finished talking with one of the women who works in my building. She's cleaned my floor's bathrooms, hallways, kitchen, etc. for the past four months that I've lived here--in fact, she was hired around the same time as I moved in. She's as worried as everyone else today about the state of the economy and what that means for her job, particularly with an unemployed husband and a young daughter at home. But Leia (I've changed her name for this) has another thing to worry about that most people don't have to contend with--something that no one should have to contend with.
Leia is being stalked by a man who also works in this building, albeit on a different floor. He follows her, watches her while she works, waits for her in more isolated parts of the building. She finally mentioned it to the assistant supervisor, who said the stalker would be spoken to, but Leia is terrified of what might happen now. This man has not been moved to another building and none of his privileges have been revoked. He has simply (supposedly) been verbally reprimanded.
Meanwhile, the other day she found her time card missing--it contains her work identification number and other information. Leia asked me if that number could be used to find out her home address. As much as I hated to say it to her, I think it probably could at some level, if that's where her checks are sent--although it's unlikely the average non-tech geek could hack into the system...
I remember quite vividly a job that I held several years ago. During the course of my few months there I was stalked, sexually harrassed...and then some. Leia is lucky in that there was someone willing to listen to her in the administrative posts, but I can't help but side with her in thinking that more could (and should) have been done.
Does anyone have any suggestions of how to help her? I feel pretty strongly that our floor community has a responsibility to help keep her safe from harm. I know it could have made a difference for me.
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