Recently, a woman accused a celebrity of sexually assaulting her. Her account has been widely criticised as not describing sexual harassment, but simply describing a bad date.
One of the articles commentating on her account links to a YouGov poll asking what actions constitute sexual harassment.
The key statistics that worry me are that 34% of women consider a comment on their looks to be always or usually sexual harassment, and that 5% consider consider a man asking them out for a drink to be sexual harassment.
I was under the impression that these were standard flirting techniques, and that asking someone out for a drink was a common date suggestion.
As Vox says, “Perhaps what is especially threatening about Grace’s story is that it involves a situation in which many men can imagine themselves.”
What can I do to avoid false sexual harassment accusations when flirting?