'Knesset must discuss Rosen harassment allegations'

MK calls on Knesset discourse over sexual harassment complains in light of Channel 10 reporter's leave of absence over accusations.

By LAHAV HARKOV, GREER FAY CASHMAN
Emanuel Rosen 370 (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Emanuel Rosen 370
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Knesset must encourage women to complain about sexual harassment, MK Pnina Tamnu-Shata (Yesh Atid) said on Sunday, in light of allegations against Channel 10 reporter Emmanuel Rosen.
Rosen was forced to take leave of absence from Channel 10 last week following Haaretz reports alleging he sexually harassed women he interviewed and those who worked with him. Channel 2 fired him two and a half years ago due to similar complaints.
On Sunday, Tamnu-Shata asked MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), chairwoman of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women, to call a meeting to define more clearly the procedure for complaining about someone who exploits his position of authority in the workplace.
According to law, Tamnu- Shata explained, any place of employment with more than 25 workers must post a copy of the Law to Prevent Sexual Harassment, which includes how to submit a complaint.
“Unfortunately, beyond the piece of paper hanging on the wall, women are still afraid to submit complaints to their employers or to the police,” she said. “The main complaints are from women subordinate to the public figure [they’re complaining about].”
Tamnu-Shata called for the committee to “push women to complain against harassers and protect women in any way possible. In addition, we should deal with employers who received complaints from workers and did not take care of them.”
Rosen is the Channel 10 diplomatic analyst and had been tapped to anchor the channel’s Friday night news program. He was also named one of the key personalities, along with Tali Moreno and Alon Ben-David, to appear in a news magazine meant to air next month. In addition, he hosts programs on Radio 103 and Educational Television.
The Haaretz report was based on information found in the cellphone of a female journalist who interviewed a large number of women who said Rosen stalked them, barraged them with SMS messages, sometimes with lewd suggestions, telephoned them repeatedly in the middle of the night and was verbally abusive when rebuffed.
Meanwhile, Rosen wrote on his Facebook profile that he was glad that the genie was finally out of the bottle.
He claimed that for the past 10 years there had been a behind the scenes smear campaign against him which had spread to the Internet with anonymous sources presenting him as a serial sexual harasser.
During that period there was hardly a woman who had worked with him or had been interviewed by him, who was not questioned by the cabal of female journalists who wanted to know whether he had harmed or harassed them, Rosen wrote.