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The #MeToo movement, which began in 2006 and went viral in 2017, has brought significant attention to sexual harassment across various industries. Despite this increased awareness, many women continue to report harassment. In today's email, we will discuss how a group of female professionals in commercial real estate has launched their own campaign to address harassment at industry conferences.

Cloud computing is now widely used, driven by the need for hybrid work models. But, edge computing remains crucial for many building management systems where immediate, autonomous responses are essential. As we discuss in a new article, the need for redundancy, the benefits of edge intelligence, and the necessity for mobile connectivity are likely to keep some building systems from migrating fully to the cloud.

This week in Propmodo Technology, we delve into access control for multifamily and commercial buildings. We'll examine the new standards that are mitigating cybersecurity threats in modern high-tech access control systems and discuss the role of access control within a building's broader security ecosystem. We'll also explore the growing trend of replacing traditional keys with mobile devices like smartphones and smartwatches, and how this shift is revolutionizing access control.

Now, let's dig in!

The Real Estate Industry Still Has a Sexual Harassment Problem

The #MeToo hashtag went viral in 2017 and quickly became a global movement. It didn’t quite happen overnight, though. The movement's roots go back to 2006, when Tarana Burke, an activist in New York, coined the term. The idea was to empower women who had suffered from sexual violence to let them know they weren’t alone.

The #MeToo movement has accomplished a lot in a short period and brought more awareness of sexual harassment, but not everyone is content with the impact that it has made. The real estate industry has been reminded of this in the past year after a few high-profile allegations of harassment at top organizations like eXp Realty and the National Association of Realtors.

Recently, another group of women in commercial real estate have begun speaking out, too. The Power Beacons group comprises fifteen female industry professionals who launched a campaign to raise awareness around sexual harassment at business conferences. The group has circulated videos on Instagram and LinkedIn, and they plan to distribute special lids at events to prevent someone from placing drugs in drinks.

The awareness campaign was launched on the eve of RECon, ICSC's massive annual conference in Las Vegas. The video cites a 2018 survey that reveals 56 percent of female executives across industries say they’ve been harassed in a professional environment. About 29 percent of the women executives specifically said it happened at a conference.

Some assumed harassment wasn’t an issue anymore after the #MeToo movement, but members of the Power Beacons group say that’s not the case. The group was formed at the end of 2020 as an informal support network for women in the industry to discuss their experiences. 

The Power Beacon Group isn’t blaming ICSC or other organizations that hold conferences. ICSC has said it takes extensive steps to ensure the safety of attendees and supports Power Beacon's efforts. The group members say they’re mainly asking for help from others in the industry to raise awareness.

Of course, the persistence of workplace sexual harassment isn’t isolated to the real estate industry. Similar incidents have recently made headlines at legal, tech, and academic conferences. In commercial real estate, women only make up about 36.7 percent of the industry, and that percentage hasn’t changed much over the last 15 years. The Power Beacon group’s awareness campaign and recent high-profile allegations of harassment show that in a traditionally male-dominated industry, there’s still much work to be done.

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Propmodo Daily is written and edited by Franco Faraudo with contributions from readers like you and the Propmodo team.

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