Devastating repercussions of calling out misbehaviour at work

‘Men who are called out for bad behaviour in the workplace bounce back. It’s the women who had the courage to call them out who suffer the devastating professional fallout.’ Photograph: Andriy Popov/Alamy

I’m writing in response to Gaby Hinsliff’s column (White men are apparently terrified of doing the wrong thing at work. I have some advice, 26 May). I was sexually assaulted at work by a man twice my age – my boss. I reported it to my company and to the police. I pursued legal justice. I spoke openly about what had happened. And I lost my job and haven’t worked since.

This isn’t from a lack of trying. I would love to be working again. I’m a well-educated woman in my 30s – I have a postgraduate degree, I’ve worked for the Foreign Office and the BBC, I speak Arabic and French. I’ve been working since I was 13. Even as I changed countries and careers in my 20s, I was never unemployed – until now.