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that can now carry legal consequences. The message is clear: prevention isn’t optional. Looking the other way isn’t neutral. Employers will be held responsible for the environments they create. Why #MeToo Didn’t Break Through in Turkiye Unlike in the US or France, the #MeToo movement never took hold in Turkiye in the same way. Here, the conversation tends to happen in whispers, not in public. There are a few reasons why. don’t believe they’ll be protected if they speak up. Trials drag on, and the burden of proof usually falls on the person making the complaint. There’s also the social pressure. Accusers are often blamed, and their reputations suffer. Legal systems feel unreliable. People
The message is clear: prevention isn’t optional. Looking the other way isn’t neutral. Employers will be held responsible for the environments they create.
Even when someone does speak up, it’s not always easy to figure out what’s true. Some want accountability, and others are caught in a more personal agenda. It’s messy, and it makes it that much easier for leadership to look away. You’ll recognize this dynamic if you’ve ever watched House of Cards. Frank and Claire Underwood failed because they weren’t charming or clever. They rose because the system around them rewarded ambition, downplayed discomfort, and let silence fill the gaps. People didn’t speak up; not because they didn’t know what was going on, but because they didn’t think it would matter. Or worse, because they
feared the consequences of noticing. The same logic applies in real offices. Harassment doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s normalized. Sometimes it’s just something “we don’t talk about.” A New Law, a Shift in Focus In the UK, there’s a law coming into effect in October 2026 that takes aim at precisely this problem. It says companies will no longer be judged only by what they did when something went wrong, but also by what they allowed. If a workplace culture quietly encourages bullying or harassment, even without an official complaint,
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GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE ISSUE 16
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