Another complication that arises in sexual harassment cases is the attack that women face when they speak up against aggressors. "The laws don't need to be changed, but I think we need to realize that a woman stands a great deal to lose by alleging sexual harassment," says Schneider.

The recent Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas confrontation was an illustration of the treatment women receive when they attempt to bring cases of sexual harassment to trial, says Williams.

Underlying all the questions in the Anita Hill trial was a disposition to not believe her, says Williams. In the process, Hill's character and credibility were attacked with accusations of insanity, deliberate lying and opportunism, says Williams.

Anita Hill was attacked with "the vocabulary with which one described witches," she says.

In addition to the verbal attacks, women who speak up about sexual harassment also face the prospect of losing their jobs, the professors say.

And with these disincentives, women are frightened into remaining silent about their experience. "It would seem as though the message being sent is to keep quiet," says Schneider.

Even when women do speak up about sexual harassment at their jobs, they are often told to "just forget about it" by the workplace, says Williams. When workplaces establish offices to deal with sexual harassment, these offices often act only to stop the women from taking their complaints further, adds Williams.

In addition to enforcement of current laws, Taub and Matsudo say that stronger laws can be implemented to protect women.

Under present laws, women who have been harassed can only recover financial awards if the harassment resulted in loss of income. The laws need to be expanded to cover other types of damage, such as emotional harm, says Matsuda.

Backlash?

Scholars are unsure whether the recent highly publicized hearings will encourage women to speak up about sexual harassment.

On one hand, women saw that Hill suffered by accusing Thomas of sexual harassment, says Williams.

But while the Hill case may not encourage women to seek legal remedies, it "has caused many women to speak among themselves," she adds.

Taub agrees that the Hill case sent a mixed message to women about of seeking legal remedies for sexual harassment. Most women, she says, will at least speak to each other about sexual harassment. Whether this will result in legal action, however, is the question to which feminists do not yet have the answer, adds Taub.

Molly J. Schachter contributed to the reporting of this article.