Why Some Harassment Victims Stay Quiet for Years

By Deborah J. Hopkins, July 14, 2026

Another week in America, and another politician is accused of sexual impropriety including sexual assault. And as always happens, strong feelings emerge from people in support of the alleged victim – and people in support of the alleged perpetrator. All before any investigation is completed, and before all the relevant, material, and reliable evidence is uncovered.

We can be so quick to jump to conclusions without any actual evidence, and it’s fine to feel however you want to feel about these things, but there’s a place where strong feelings can cause a bias problem: a workplace administrative investigation into allegations of harassment.

In these complaints, particularly related to sexual harassment, one of the themes that inevitably comes up is some version of, “She’s lying. If it really happened, she would have come forward right away.”

I can’t count how many times a witness has made a comment to this effect. But it’s just not accurate. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, only 2-10% of sexual assault allegations are false. What’s more, per DOJ [PDF], nearly 80 percent of sexual assaults go unreported.

There’s no formula that applies to the behaviors of harassment victims. According to NIH, “Survivors’ immediate reactions in the aftermath of trauma are quite complicated and are affected by their own experiences, the accessibility of natural supports and healers, their coping and life skills and those of immediate family, and the responses of the larger community in which they live.”

Below are just some of the reasons why victims don’t immediately report sexual harassment or misconduct:

• Shock
• Numbing
• Dissociation
• Avoidance
• Fear
• Internal minimizing
• Disbelief
• Shame
• Social or political pressure
• Concern they won’t be believed
• Concern they will be blamed (for example, “what were you wearing?”
• Fear of retaliation
• The need to keep a job

If you find yourself assigned to conduct a harassment investigation and before you’ve even spoken to one witness you already assume the allegations are false because too much time has elapsed, it’s an indicator you cannot conduct the investigation objectively. In that case you should recuse and have someone else conduct the investigation. Moreover, if you find yourself assuming the victim is telling the truth before you even start the investigation, it could be just as much of a problem.

Even if more than 45 days have elapsed since the most recent allegation, and the complaint would be time-barred for EEO purposes, the agency still has an obligation to intervene and uncover any potential misconduct, and take prompt and effective corrective action when necessary. After all, there’s no statute of limitations on employee misconduct. [email protected]

Related training:

• Managing High-conflict Personalities in the Workplace, July 23, 2026
• Workplace Investigations Week, August 10-14, 2026
• Responding Swiftly and Effectively to Inappropriate Sexual Conduct (pre-recorded)

The information presented here is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Contacting FELTG in any way/format does not create the existence of an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, you should contact an attorney.