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Pinay speaks out against sexual harassment in tech industry

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Lenn Almadin-Thornhill, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vZBIS6bl-SA" width="560"></iframe></figure>BROOKLYN, NY - Her name is Cecilia Pagkalinawan, and her story of sexual harassment in the workplace is common but, she says, is rarely shared.“He started behaving inappropriately towards me. He started pushing his chair closer, leaning towards me. Next thing I knew he was touching my leg under the table. He started telling me how attracted he was to me. How he wanted to take care of me,” Pagkalinawan said. “All of a sudden I realized, this wasn’t just about investment in my company. He wanted something in return.”That meeting was in 2001, during the dotcom crash. Pagkalinawan ended up walking away from a $4 million investment that could have saved her first start-up company.Instead, she had to let go of her 26 employees.Pagkalinawan shared other similar unpleasant propositions she experienced working on tech start-up deals, including one instance from a tech founder she was trying to help.“At one of our meetings, he found out that the potential investor was interested in me. And when he told this to me, he said, ‘C’mon Cecilia, take one for the team’. So this guy was actually encouraging me to have sex with a venture capitalist for investment for him,” she said.Similar stories of sexual harassment in the tech industry have recently come out in public.Pagkalinawan and other female tech entrepreneurs shared their stories recently with CNN.She said each instance leaves her demoralized.“When these situations happen, when you’re being sexually harassed and propositioned, inside you fall apart, and it’s very hard to get up the next day and do what you are normally good at,” she said.She hopes that sharing what she experienced does not discourage other women from being involved in the tech industry.“It’s actually not a terrible industry to get into. There are some people who are bad people in the industry, and that’s being corrected. But for the most part, the tech community and industry have given so many opportunities and have so many friends that came from it and so many friends who support me,” she said.The kind of support she hopes, that could empower more women to speak out.Read more on <a href="http://www.balitangamerica.tv">Balitang America:</a>

BROOKLYN, NY - Her name is Cecilia Pagkalinawan, and her story of sexual harassment in the workplace is common but, she says, is rarely shared.

BROOKLYN, NY - Her name is Cecilia Pagkalinawan, and her story of sexual harassment in the workplace is common but, she says, is rarely shared.

Pinay speaks out against sexual harassment in tech industry

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Pinay speaks out against sexual harassment in tech industry

Lenn Almadin-Thornhill,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 21, 2017 10:01 PM PHT

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sexual harassment

tech industry

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