(This article was first published in the San Francisco Chronicle on June 24, 2019.)

The #MeToo movement has emphasized not only how rampant sexual abuse is, but also how frequently third parties disregard — or even enable — it. California is an epicenter of this movement with many of the highest-profile instances of both assault and bystanderism occurring here, particularly in Hollywood. In perhaps the most notorious case, at least 16 people admitted witnessing or knowing of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct but remaining silent; his behavior was infamous within both Miramax and the Weinstein Co., giants in the entertainment industry.

(Continue reading the article on the SSRN here.)

Zachary D. Kaufman is a senior fellow at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and a lecturer at Stanford Law School. He is writing a book on bystanders and upstanders amid crimes and crises.