"This is a man's world"
© Red Bull
It's ironic. On the same day that a project designed by women, for women, to break the glass ceiling in motorsport and make F1 more accessible is gaining significant momentum, we're faced with a reminder that the world we are living in is still predominantly run by men.
The female Red Bull employee who bravely spoke out against abuse of power, or what some media outlets prefer to call "inappropriate behaviour", has been suspended. That's how it works - raise a complaint and you're likely to be silenced.
The protest, followed by an investigation, should have been conducted in a fair and transparent manner. All parties involved should have had the opportunity to maintain their innocence until proven otherwise. But the problem started even before the investigation began.
From the start, a woman's complaint was used to divert attention from a purely business matter - a power struggle involving men. Since then, the original issue between the two parties involved, which is undeniably serious, has been overshadowed by speculation about how the more powerful party, the male team principal, will emerge clean and secure his future.
Then came the investigation, if you can call it that, given the lack of transparency surrounding it. We're kept in the dark about its proceedings. Although privacy may be cited as a reason for this secrecy, it seems to serve only to absolve the man in power, once again without evidence. Some may argue: "No evidence, it's a private investigation". Fair enough. But if no evidence is needed to exonerate him and protect him from the consequences, then no proof is needed to label someone else as "dishonest" and suspend her from her job? Is that justice?
It stinks of patriarchy.
Simply because a woman raises her voice and speaks out doesn't automatically make her right or innocent, just because of her gender. But it deserves to be heard and, above all, believed until proven otherwise. And I do mean proven.
This situation sends a terrifying message to women everywhere. If this is the consequence of speaking out, the next woman who experiences something similar at work or elsewhere may choose silence, feeling that she has no chance of fighting for the truth or being believed. Instead, she may face media speculation, invasive scrutiny and job suspension - all based on allegations of dishonesty which at this point I would like to think are true and well proven, because otherwise this is all very disheartening.
Today, after watching the news unwind, after weeks of contradictions, I'm left wondering: Is this Formula 1? Is this the sport we love? Is this how women are treated in it? 41% of F1's 500 million fans are now women. Is this how we value their worth? As fans, engineers, strategists, journalists and drivers? Where are the men of the sport? The leaders, the drivers (apart from Lewis Hamilton, who has already shown his support for women in sport and asked for transparency in this case)?
The chorus of a James Brown song echoes in my head:
"Cause this is still a man's, man's, man's world.
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing, without a woman or a girl".
