Should I use whistleblowing channels to help other women being harassed when I am 5 years from retirement and could not find another job?

[Namechange6666]

WWYD? I have heard that a head of department at my work is sexually harassing female members of staff. Luckily I am too old for him. However, these women have reported it and have been told do drop it as he is protected by more senior management - and this is a woman in her late 40s that is protecting him.
He doesn’t like older females around like me and only employs people around his age (he inherited me in the section and is rude).
We do have an anonymous whistleblower channel but I’ve only got around 5 years to retirement.
I feel these women are being let down especially by the female CEO who values him more than what he is doing to others.

It makes me so angry. Really, what would you do?

I’d tell the women to use the anonymous whistle blowing facility and suggest they get ready to contact their union reps.

They have already told the union and been told to drop it because he is protected. I was told the same because I was bullied over my age. I have reduced my hours because of the stress.

It will be taken more seriously if the women themselves report it using the anonymous channel. There will have to be an investigation. Otherwise you are just reporting hearsay.

I’m sorry I don’t believe this.

If their union rep really did tell them to drop it then they need to request a different one.

This is clearly a conflict of interest so they can request one that doesn’t work for the company.

It’s not UK. Our union president quit recently because of stress. I have been in this company for 22 years now ne have seen this so often that certain people are protected by higher management

There’ll be another rep.

They just have to contact the union and they’ll be assigned one.

Only if you are prepared to be attacked relentlessly, gaslit and have colleagues turn against you and lie through their teeth. Most people are gutless, you will be left alone to face this and it will probably destroy,or at least damage, your health.

Don’t do it because I think @toadinthewotsit is right and you’ll have done all that, you’ll get personally attacked and not backed up, be all on your own, and nothing will come of it anyway. You would lose your job for nothing.

I think you need to have a think about what is more important to you - Getting justice for these women or having a job for the next five years until you reach retirement. Realistically, it will be very hard for you to find a new job. I don’t see what the difference is going to be if you make the complaint rather than them, other then it making life more difficult for you.

So apparently this bloke is untouchable.

Protected by senior management and a union whose rep in the workplace no longer exists.

What exactly do you think you can do about it that your colleagues and a union apparently can’t?

It might depend on which country you're in and what workers' rights are like there. If you were in the UK, I'd say go for it. France or Germany or Netherlands or Scandinavia, yes. Less sure of rights and protection in other countries.

If the union won't touch it, what difference woukd whistleblowing make? Would it be reviewed by higher management than whoever is on his side? Do you have protection for whistleblowers in your country?

If you have seen anything and the women chose to pursue the matter, I would support them. Otherwise, the ball is in their court. I have seen a number of whistleblowing cases and I have never seen it end well for the whistleblower, although they may depart with a secret payout.

It would be reviewed by someone higher than the one on his side and it is supposed to be anonymous. But I think I will just leave it. The targeted women are young enough to find other jobs.
It just feels morally wrong that a blind eye is turned to it.

It is morally wrong, OP, but you would be taking a huge risk. I have seen situations where the whistle blower has been ostracized by management and treated like a pariah.

In your position I would protect my own back and keep my head down til retirement.
There is a difference between doing what you know it right and what you know is expedient.

In life no good deed goes unpunished.

Why don't you encourage the targeted women to all report it to the anonymous whistleblowing channel then? And if it is genuinely anonymous, how come it would put you and your job at risk if you were to report it?

Is sexual harassment in the workplace taken seriously in your country, or do women not have protection in law for this sort of thing?

It's very odd the OP has given so many reasons why no-one can possibly succeed with this complaint, yet she thinks she can.