When Gina’s boss accused her of using her phone at work, she immediately knew who had told him. “I replied that I only ever use my phone during lunch, which is true. But he said that a colleague had informed him of my ‘misconduct’ and he had to take action.” It was the latest in a long line of false accusations made against Gina by her line manager. “She would regularly take her frustration out on me and once screamed in my face.” This only ever happened when they were alone; other colleagues dismissed her concerns. “It made me feel like I was losing my mind.”
The former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who died earlier this year, famously said “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”. It’s a quote often used in relation to the workplace as a way of inspiring female employees to lift one another up. And yet, even in 2022, the sentiment of Albright’s quote feels utterly utopian – because that special place is very real indeed, and it’s filling up fast.
