The founder of the controversial whistle blowing site Wikileaks Julian Assange will be extradited back to Sweden for charges of sexual abuse. Assange was accused of rape and sexual abuse by two Swedish women. A Swedish prosecutor issued a warrant to question the controversial figure before he fled to Britain. Today in London, Judge Howard Riddle ruled that Assange should be released to the custody of Swedish prosecutors to question him regarding the sex-crime allegations. Assange has seven days to appeal the court’s decision which could take an additional 40 days.
Assange believes the sexual abuse allegations are false and politically motivated. There is evidence that one of the women who accused Assange of sex-crimes was hoping to gain employment as his press secretary and had sex with him. She later recanted and accused him of rape. If the evidence can be validated, the allegation is at best quid pro quo sexual harassment as defined by US sexual harassment lawyers. Quid pro quo sexual harassment in the work environment is defined as offering a promotion or raise in exchange for sexual favors.
According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and sexual harassment lawyers over 15,000 cases of sexual harassment are filed annually. Those are just reports of individuals who file charges many cases of sexual harassment go unreported. The encouragement of a sexual harassment attorney may be the impetus needed for victims of sexual abuse to report the improprieties that occur in the workplace.
