Silicon Valley Women， in Cultural Shift， Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment
翻译：鲁漪文
Their stories came out slowly， even hesitantly， at first。 Then in a rush。
起初，她们还举棋不定，犹豫不决。后来，大量的故事被抖了出来。
One female entrepreneur recounted how she had been propositioned by a Silicon Valley venture capitalist while seeking a job with him， which she did not land after rebuffing him。 Another showed the increasingly suggestive messages she had received from a start-up investor。 And one chief executive described how she had faced numerous sexist comments from an investor while raising money for her online community website。
一位女性企业家说，她在向一个硅谷风险投资家求职时，对方提出上床，她拒绝后就没能得到那份工作。还有一位女企业家给我们看了一个初创企业投资者人发给她的消息，言语越来越具有挑逗性。一位女性总裁讲述为自己的社群网站融资时，一个投资人说了大量歧视女性的话。
What happened afterward was often just as disturbing， the women told The New York Times。 Many times， the investors’ firms and colleagues ignored or played down what had happened when the situations were brought to their attention。 Saying anything， the women were warned， might lead to ostracism。
这些受访的女性告诉《纽约时报》，之后发生的事经常让人气恼。大多数时候，即便投资人所在的公司和同事注意到这种情况，他们往往也无动于衷，或是一副轻描淡写的样子。这些女性遭到警告，若透出风声去，就别再圈子里混了。
Now some of these female entrepreneurs have decided to take that risk。 More than two dozen women in the technology start-up industry spoke to The Times in recent days about being sexually harassed。 Ten of them named the investors involved， often providing corroborating messages and emails， and pointed to high-profile venture capitalists such as Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital and Dave McClure of 500 Startups， who did not dispute the accounts。
如今，其中一些女性企业家决定承担那种风险。最近几天，二十多个创业初期的女性告诉《时报》她们曾遭性骚扰。其中，十位提供了确凿的短信和邮件作为证据，指明对其进行性骚扰的投资者，其中包括“小写资本”的克里斯·萨卡和“五百家初创”的戴夫·麦克卢尔，两位大名鼎鼎的风险投资家并不否认。
The disclosures came after the tech news site The Informationreportedthat female entrepreneurs had been preyed upon by a venture capitalist， Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital。 The new accounts underscore how sexual harassment in the tech start-up ecosystem goes beyond one firm and is pervasive and ingrained。 Now their speaking out suggests a cultural shift in Silicon Valley， where such predatory behavior had often been murmured about but rarely exposed。
“二进制资本”的风险投资家贾斯汀·凯德贝克仗势欺侮多名女性创业者，科技新闻网站“The Information”报道，大量女性参与到曝光行动中来。通过这些女性的叙述，我们发现在科技创投生态中，性骚扰并非某一家公司的潜规则，而是一个根深蒂固的普遍现象。她们将出实情，这表明硅谷文化到了转型的时候，以前对投资家的“猎色”行为，女性创业者只是私下里谈论，很少被抖出来。
The tech industry has long suffered a gender imbalance， with companies such asGoogleand Facebook acknowledging how few women were in their ranks。 Some female engineers have started to speak out on the issue， including a former Uber engineer who detaileda pattern of sexual harassmentat the company， setting off internal investigations that spurred the resignation this month of Uber’s chief executive， Travis Kalanick。
一直以来，科技行业性别比例失调。谷歌和脸谱等公司承认，同事里几乎没有女性。有些女性工程师说出问题所在，其中一位优步工程师详细描述了公司内部的性侵规则，于是公司启动内部调查，并最终导致了优步首席执行官特拉维斯·卡拉尼克辞职。
Most recently， the revelations about Mr。 Caldbeck of Binary Capital have triggered an outcry。 The investor has been accused of sexually harassing entrepreneurs while he worked at three different venture firms in the past seven years， often in meetings in which the women were presenting their companies to him。
回过头来看，近期对“二进制资本”贾斯丁·卡德贝克先生遭曝光同样引发公众愤慨。这位投资人被控七年间在三家风投公司工作，期间连续对创业者性骚扰，往往还是在那些女性向他介绍自己公司的会谈上就发生了。
Several of Silicon Valley’s top venture capitalists and technologists， including Reid Hoffman， a founder of LinkedIn， condemned Mr。 Caldbeck’s behavior last week and called for investors tosign a “decency pledge。” Binary has since collapsed， with Mr。 Caldbeck leaving the firm and investors pulling money out of its funds。
The chain of events has emboldened more women to talk publicly about the treatment they said they had endured from tech investors。
上周，包括领英创始人雷德·霍夫曼在内的几位硅谷风投人和技术人员都谴责了卡德贝克的行为，并呼吁所有投资人签署“体面承诺”。曝光后，卡德贝克离开公司，其他投资人也从“二进制”基金了中撤资。这一连串事件促使更多的女性愿意开口，公开讲述科技业投资人对她们进行的性骚扰。
“Female entrepreneurs are a critical part of the fabric of Silicon Valley，” said Katrina Lake， founder and chief executive ofonline clothing start-up Stitch Fix， who was one of the women targeted by Mr。 Caldbeck。 “It’s important to expose the type of behavior that’s been reported in the last few weeks， so the community can recognize and address these problems。”
“女性创业者是硅谷的中坚力量，”线上服装企业的创始人兼首席执行官卡特里娜·蕾克说。“正如过去几周报道的那样，我们必须揭露这些行为。这样人们才能意识到性骚扰问题的严重性并加以解决。”蕾克也曾是遭到卡德贝克骚扰。
The women’s experiences help explain why the venture capital and start-up ecosystem — which underpins the tech industry and has spawned companies such as Google， Facebook and Amazon — has been so lopsided in terms of gender。
这些女性的经历或许能解释支撑起技术产业并孕育了谷歌、脸谱和亚马逊等公司的风投圈和创业圈何以性别比例严重失调。
Most venture capitalists and entrepreneurs are men， with female entrepreneurs receiving $1.5 billion in funding last year versus $58.2 billion for men， according to the data firm PitchBook。 Many of the investors hold outsize power， since entrepreneurs need their money to turn ideas and innovations into a business。 And because the venture industry operates with few disclosure requirements， people have kept silent about investors who cross the lines with entrepreneurs。
大部分的创业者和风险投资者都是男性。数据公司“项目建议书”统计，男性企业家们去年共融资582亿美元，而女企业家们仅为15亿美元。投资人权力很大，因为企业家需要投资者的钱将自己的想法和创意变成企业。加上风投产业无需信息披露，人们对投资人的过分行为缄口不言。
Some venture capitalists’ abuse of power has come to light in recent years。 In 2015， Ellen Pao took her former employer， the prestigious venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers， to trial for allegations of gender discrimination， leveling accusations of professional retaliation after spurned sexual advances。 Ms。 Paolost the case， but itsparked a debate about whether women in tech should publicly call out unequal treatment。
近年来，不少投资人滥用权力的行为遭到曝光。2015年，鲍康如以性别歧视为由将她的前雇主、著名风投公司凯鹏华盈告上法庭，她指控公司在她拒绝与高管发生性关系后对她进行了职业报复。鲍康如没有胜诉，但这一举动立刻引发科技圈内的讨论，即女性是否应该公开声明自己曾遭到的不平等待遇。
“Having had several women come out earlier， including Ellen Pao and me， most likely paved the way and primed the industry that these things indeed happen，” said Gesche Haas， an entrepreneur who said she waspropositioned for sexby an investor， Pavel Curda， in 2014。 Mr。 Curda hassince apologized。
“包括我和鲍康如在内的几位女性站了出来，或许能够为之后更多的曝光铺平道路。我们需要告诉行业中所有人，这样的事确实发生过，且正在发生。”女企业家格舍·哈斯说。她2014年爆料投资人帕威尔·科达提出发生性关系。遭曝光后，科达道了歉。
Some of the entrepreneurs who spoke with The Times said they were often touched without permission by investors or advisers。
还有部分女性创业者告诉《时报》，许多投资人和顾问未经允许擅自摸她们。
At a mostly male tech gathering in Las Vegas in 2009， Susan Wu， an entrepreneur and investor， said that Mr。 Sacca， an investor and former Google executive， touched her face without her consent in a way that made her uncomfortable。 Ms。 Wu said she was also propositioned by Mr。 Caldbeck while fund-raising in 2010 and worked hard to avoid him later when they crossed paths。
2009年，在拉斯维加斯举办的一次男性参与者占多的科技峰会上，一位女企业家和投资人吴苏珊声称，前任谷歌经理、投资人萨卡未经允许摸了她的脸，让她感到不舒服。吴女士还说，2010年的一次融资活动者中，卡德贝克向她提出发生性关系，后来合作中她尽量躲着卡德贝克。
“There is such a massive imbalance of power that women in the industry often end up in distressing situations，” Ms。 Wu said。
“正因为科技圈中两性数量和权力的极度不平衡，才导致了今天这种糟糕局面。”她说。
After being contacted by The Times， Mr。 Sacca wrote ina blog poston Thursday： “I now understand I personally contributed to the problem。 I am sorry。” In a statement to The Times， he added that he was “grateful to Susan and the other brave women sharing their stories。 I’m confident the result of their courage will be long-overdue， lasting change。”
本周四，萨卡在一篇博客中表示：“我已经认识到，我个人的行为导致了这一问题日趋严重，对此我感到抱歉。”他在《时报》发表声明说：“我非常敬佩苏珊和其他女性勇敢说出了她们的故事。我相信她们的勇气将最终为科技产业带来早该发生的长远变化。”
Many of the women also said they believed they had limited ability to push back against inappropriate behavior， often because they needed funding， a job or other help。
然而，仍有大部分女性说，她们认为自己没有足够的实力反抗这些行为，因为她们需要钱，需要工作，或者需要其他一些帮助。
In 2014， Sarah Kunst， 31， an entrepreneur， said she discussed a potential job at 500 Startups， a start-up incubator in San Francisco。 During the recruiting process， Mr。 McClure， a founder of 500 Startups and an investor， sent her a Facebook message that read in part， “I was getting confused figuring out whether to hire you or hit on you。”
2014年，31岁的企业家萨拉·坤斯特说，她曾求职于“五百家创业”。招聘过程中，公司创始人之一麦克卢尔给她发了条脸谱消息说：“我不知道该雇你还是该撩你。”
Ms。 Kunst， who now runs a fitness start-up， said she declined Mr。 McClure’s advance。 When she later discussed the message with one of Mr。 McClure’s colleagues， she said 500 Startups ended its conversations with her。
现在运营着一家健身公司总裁的坤斯特女士，当时拒绝了麦克卢尔的挑逗。然而，她对麦克卢尔的一位同事说了这件事后，“五百家创业公司”终止了与她的合作。
500 Startups said Mr。 McClure， who did not respond to a request for comment， was no longer in charge of day-to-day operations after an internal investigation。
麦克卢尔未对此事做出回应，但公司表示进行内部调查后，麦克卢尔不再负责公司的日常事务。
“After being made aware of instances of Dave having inappropriate behavior with women in the tech community， we have been making changes internally，” 500 Startups said。 “He recognizes he has made mistakes and has been going through counseling to work on addressing changes in his previous unacceptable behavior。”
“我们得知戴夫对科技圈里的女性提出了非分要求后，我们开始内部整顿，”“五百家创业公司”说：“麦克卢尔认识到了自己的错误，已经接受谈话，对他过去的不端行为做出改正。”
Rachel Renock， the chief executive ofWethos， described a similar situation in which she faced sexist comments while seeking financing for her online community site。 While fund-raising in March， one investor told her and her female business partners that they should marry for money， that he liked it when women fought back because he would always win， and that they needed more attractive photos of themselves in their presentation。
Wethos首席执行官瑞秋·雷诺科也讲述了她在为自己的线上社群筹款时遭遇的大量性别歧视言论。三月，一位投资人告诉正在融资的她和她的女性合作伙伴，她们该为了钱去结婚。他还说，他喜欢看女人反抗，因为他总是赢家，还说她们展示时该多秀几张惹火的照片。
They put up with the comments， Ms。 Renock said， because they “couldn’t imagine a world in which that $500，000 wasn’t on the table anymore。” Ms。 Renock declined to name the investor。 Wethos raised the $500，000 from someone else and is still fund-raising。
雷诺科说，她和朋友们默默容忍了这些龌龊话，因为她们“无法想象如果没有那50万公司会发生什么”。雷诺科女士拒绝说出那名投资人的名字。Wethos从别人那里筹到了五十万，现在仍在融资。
Wendy Dent， 43， whose company Cinemmerse makes an app for smart watches， said she was sent increasingly flirtatious messages by a start-up adviser， Marc Canter， as she was trying to start her company in 2014。 Mr。 Canter， who had founded a software company in the 1980s that became known as Macromedia， initially agreed to help her find a co-founder。 But over time， his messages became sexual in nature。
43岁的温蒂·丹特经营着一家为智能手表设计应用程序的公司Cinemmerse。她说，2014年公司创立过程中，马克·坎特给她发了很多条调情短信。坎特在八十年代创建了“宏媒体”公司。一开始，坎特只是她的顾问，答应帮她找位合伙人，可时间一长，他的短信越来越黄。
In one message， reviewed by The Times， he wrote that she was a “sorceress casting a spell。” In another， he commented on how she looked in a blue dress and added， “Know what I’m thinking？ Why am I sending you this — in private？”
丹特给《时报》展示的一条短信中，坎特说她是一个“施咒的巫婆”。还有一条，他评论她穿蓝裙子的样子，还说，“你知道我在想什么吗？你知道我为什么要发这条短信吗？是私信哦。”
Mr。 Canter， in an interview， said that Ms。 Dent “came on strong to me， asking for help” and that she had used her sexuality publicly。 He said he disliked her ideas so he behaved the way he did to make her go away。
坎特在一次采访中说，丹特女士“找我求助时很直接”，她曾公开发骚。他说他并不喜欢她的思路，所以才以这种方式让她走人。
Some entrepreneurs were asked to not speak about the behavior they experienced。
还有一些女性被要求对她们遭受的性骚扰保持沉默。
At a start-up competition in 2014 in San Francisco， Lisa Curtis， an entrepreneur， pitched her food start-up， Kuli Kuli， and was told her idea had won the most plaudits from the audience， opening the door to possible investment。 As she stepped off the stage， an investor named Jose De Dios， said， “Of course you won。 You’re a total babe。”
2014年，一次旧金山的创业大赛上，丽莎·柯蒂斯为自己的食品公司“库里库里”做演讲，赢得了满堂彩。台下的反应让她感觉，自己的理念很吸引人，很有可能能融到钱。她走下舞台时，一位名叫何塞·德·迪欧斯的投资人对她说，“你当然会赢。你是个十足的尤物！”
Ms。 Curtis later posted on Facebook about the exchange and got a call from a different investor。 He said “that if I didn’t take down the post， no one in Silicon Valley would give me money again，” she said。 Ms。 Curtis deleted the post。
柯蒂斯将此事发在脸谱上后，另一个投资人给她打了电话。他说，“如果你不将这个贴子从脸谱上删除，硅谷的任何人都不会再给你钱。”之后，柯蒂斯删掉了这篇贴子。
In a statement， Mr。 De Dios said he “unequivocally did not make a defamatory remark。”
德·迪欧斯在一份声明中表示，他“绝对没说过诽谤言论”。
Often， change happens only when there is a public revelation， some of the women said。 In the case of Mr。 Caldbeck and Binary， the investor and the firmhave apologized， as has Mr。 Caldbeck’s previous employer， the venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners， which had received complaints about him。
有些女性说，只有真相被披露时，局面才会有所改观。卡德贝克和二进制公司是一个绝佳的例证，此事被曝光后，投资人和公司才出面道歉。卡德贝克的前雇主、风投公司光速风险伙伴也收到了对卡德贝克的投诉。
“We regret we did not take stronger action，”Lightspeed said on Twitteron Tuesday。 “It is clear now that we should have done more。”
“很遗憾，我们没能更强硬些，”周二，光速公司在推特上说。“我们本可以做得更多。”
Lindsay Meyer， an entrepreneur in San Francisco， said Mr。 Caldbeck put $25，000 of his own money into her fitness start-up in 2015。 That gave Mr。 Caldbeck reason to constantly text her； in those messages， reviewed by The Times， he asked if she was attracted to him and why she would rather be with her boyfriend than him。 At times， he groped and kissed her， she said。
旧金山的一位企业家林赛·梅尔表示，卡德贝克2015自掏腰包为她的健身公司投了2.5万美元；这让卡德贝克有理由对她进行短信骚扰。梅尔给《时报》展示的信息中，他问她有没有爱上他，或是为什么她宁愿和她的男朋友在一起也不愿意和自己在一起。有时，他还会动手动脚并亲吻她。
“I felt like I had to tolerate it because this is the cost of being a nonwhite female founder，” said Ms。 Meyer， who is Asian-American。
作为一名亚裔美国人，梅尔说，“我容忍了这一切，我以为这是作为一名非白人女性创业者必须付出的代价。”
But even after she reached out to a mentor， who alerted one of Binary’s investors， Legacy Venture， to Mr。 Caldbeck’s actions， little changed。 Legacy went on to invest in Binary’s new fund。 Binary and Mr。 Caldbeck declined to comment。
随后她向一位创业导师求助。这位导师向二进制的投资方“遗产风投”讲述了卡德贝克的行为，但收效甚微。遗产公司仍继续投资二进制的新基金。对此，二进制和卡德贝克拒绝发表评论。
“We failed to follow up on information about Mr。 Caldbeck’s personal behavior，” Legacy said in a statement。 “We regret this oversight and are determined to do better。”
遗产公司在一份声明中表示，“我们没有调查卡德贝克先生的个人行为，对此，我们感到非常遗憾。此后，我们将会做的更好。”
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