Christine Prokupeki by Nigel A JAMES
Equal
Equality
Sexual
molesters, it seems, have no regard for the common sense
understanding of normal behaviour, and, there is something about them
that most people find totally disgusting. But, there is often nothing
that can be done about it. For, more often than not, these practisers
of evil intent are in positions of power and authority. But, even
they can be beaten, and, when things got too much for Christine
Prokupeki and her co-workers, she was the one who stepped out of the
crowd!
It was 1987.
Christine was well on her way up the ladder at the large Austrian
organization where she worked, but, being a woman, things weren't as
easy and smooth as they should have been. There were the usual
batterings of loaded double meaning comments, there were the advances
– both mental and physical -, there were the promotional blockings,
and so on, and so on. And, so it was, that, together with 10 of her
colleagues, the group of 87 was born, and, from that day on, things
started changing.
At first,
the differences were small, but, as word spread to the company's
other branches the subtle pressure that was growing began to show
teeth. And, gradually, a following on an unthought of scale began to
emerge, and, within the space of just under a year, an active network
of more than 2000 women had begun to make itself heard! And, it
wasn't only the management who woke up.
Everyone
else, too, stretched and opened their eyes. Soon, more and more
people begun to understand the fact that bad behaviour was not only a
thing of the past, but, also a matter of consequence. Thanks to
Christine's Group of 87, the promise of disciplinary hearings became
a reality. New rules were the rule, and they were to be reckoned
with, and, funnily enough, the first person to be officially
disciplined at Christine's company was a woman! Female section heads
can also be bad! Equality, too, has to be equal.
And then
Christine's ideas went national! Because of the fact that her
company was politically connected, word about the Group of 87 soon
spread to the Austrian law makers, and, when new anti-sexist
legislation was passed into law, it had with it some of these fine
ladies principles.
And now,
thanks to Christine Prokupek's group of 87, life at work in Austria
has changed for the better!
