The first time I encountered it, it was just absent leadership. It was a section I went into that really wasn't busy. When you're in a detachment and the call is coming in and you're in general duty, you answer the call. Either you can do the work or you can't, so that's all well and good.
This was a bit different. It was a federal section where work was assigned. Right away I noticed there were only two female members. I was the second one in there. We got the worst possible files, just the worst of the worst. Anything that had any kind of flair to it that would get somebody promoted was going to men who were less well educated and who you knew from their reputation—and it's all about your personal reputation—weren't good investigators either. That was going on.
They would intentionally make a toxic work environment, like putting up pornographic calendars. It was harassment. It was, as I said, humble pie for me to realize that this, day after day, erodes your sense of worth. It erodes your sense of trust and also erodes your faith in the organization, because how can they let that happen?
A lot of women who had better options left. I had better options, but I was just too stubborn. I could have gone off teaching. When an organization does that to its workforce, people who have other options leave. Then pretty soon that organization is that much weaker for it.