Dear Men, LinkedIn is not a dating site…🙄

Dear LinkedIn: Are you doing anything about this ?

When I receive a notification or message on LinkedIn from someone I don’t know, I get excited and think🤩:

“Do they want to talk about an exciting job opportunity? or maybe they want to do some kind of collaboration?; Maybe they’re interested in my skills and background?”

Well… nope😒. Turns out sometimes they just have something to say about my looks or just want my WhatsApp so we can be ‘friends’.

Dear Men,

While these messages might seem harmless to you, for us women it’s unwanted behavior a.k.a sexual harassment🙅‍♀️.

Women work hard to be taken seriously as professionals. We are not flattered when you compliment us… we are frustrated, disappointed and disheartened, especially because it happens on LinkedIn of all places, the platform that it’s supposed to be the largest professional network, where we will be acknowledged for something other than our looks, where we hope to find a chance to grow professionally. LinkedIn is not a social media platform. Please don’t contact us unless you want to network for professional purposes.

Dear LinkedIn,

According to Global research, 8 in 10 women experience workplace sexual harassment in their lifetime. Now this platform has become another space that enables this behavior and serves as a reflection of what women struggle with during their professional life.

We understand that we can use the “report” feature to deal with this problem, but should it be all on us? and how effective is this truly? It seems there are no real consequences for men that harass women on LinkedIn. What else are you doing to protect us on your platform? How are you helping women make meaningful connections and grow professionally? Are men the only ones who can reap the benefits of your platform?