I just finished reading Exposed by Alicia Curry and I really liked it! Alicia tells her very personal story (a huge feat for anyone, much less someone who has experienced trauma in their private and personal life), of experiencing sexual harassment and retaliation at work. The story takes place mainly between 2014-2017, when the author, a school counsellor, was targeted by her principal and was on the receiving end of a significant amount of lewd comments and attempts to get her to sleep with him. Despite many attempts to turn him down, he was constantly trying to draw her in and eventually got her into bed with him. She was able to stop him from having sex with her, but she worried about how this might be seen by those around her. She did not want to have an intimate relationship with her boss and she didn't want her community, colleagues or students to find out. But once Alicia denies her boss, retaliation begins and soon he is preventing her from accessing any career advancement opportunities and creating a hostile work environment.
Angered by the injustice, Alicia embarks on a years long process to fight the HR and superintendents in her school district in an attempt to move on and find justice for the discrimination and unfair treatment she received. Around the same time as the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein drama, Alicia proves that unfortunately, it doesn't matter who you are, how much money you make, where you live, or your career choice; sexual harassment in the work place seems to be a common problem and there is little that companies and organizations are actively doing to prevent these incidences from occurring. It wasn't easy for Alicia to come forward but she did it because she wanted to stand up for herself and also protect others from experiencing the lack of support and even retaliation that she received following her attempts to report what had happened to her. It's really important that victims of sexual harassment do come forward, but with a culture of hiding the evidence and "thorough" investigations that lead to no discipline it can be very challenging to find the strength to do so. To not only go to court fighting this battle but also write a book about the journey requires immense strength and confidence, which Alicia thankfully has!
Being a teacher, I really connected with Alicia's story. While it is hard to come forward in any career, education is especially difficult because as educators we are seen as role models and respected professionals with the responsibility of protecting and caring for young children. When our mistakes are made public (ex. drinking too much, getting a traffic ticket, posting on social media etc) it can have huge ramifications at work. Having some form of relationship with her boss and then bringing his indiscretions to light made for many very tense situations for Alicia at work and in the community. Additionally, she always had her young daughter to consider. With all of these odds stacked against her, she was incredibly brave for coming forward to share her story in hopes that others can learn from it and know that sexual harassment in the work place is never ok.
This memoir was a fairly quick read and had a nice pace, despite the fact that it took several years for Alicia to finally have some sort of justice. With clear dates within and at the beginning of each chapter, it was easy to follow the timeline. Alicia also did her best to identify the other people in the story and remind the reader of who was who as needed. With so many different friends, family, colleagues, members of the justice system etc, it could have easily been quite confusing, but she managed to keep it clear and concise. While religion and spirituality is mentioned throughout the story, most mentions are quite short and specific religions or beliefs were not really identified. As a result, whether or not you are religious, I think this book would be comfortable for most readers.
I really appreciate the opportunity to read and voluntarily review this book through Booksirens and the publisher, AC Media. It was a great book and I would definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy memoirs written by strong, diverse authors.