If this article ever hits the front of HN, which I would hope it does as it highlights some toxic behaviours that we should know better than to ignore and let f

If this article ever hits the front of HN, which I would hope it does as it highlights some toxic behaviours that we should know better than to ignore and let flourish in a professional or personal environment, there are predictably going to be a number of comments that go something like this: "You didn't need to play the game," or "you should have fought back in kind," or "why didn't you leave sooner," or "women can be just as meant to each-other," or "maybe the author was just a difficult person to work with," or "that doesn't sound like sexism to me," or "that's just what happens in a male-dominated industry," or some combination of the above. What each of these comments are is "victim blaming," and dismiss the experience of the victims in lieu of your own personal experience. When we face a reality that we do not agree with or we do not want to acknowledge exists we instinctively try and explain it away, but I'd ask you to trust for a moment that the author's experiences were real and be empathetic to what that experience was like. Then imagine that experience affecting more than half of all women in the workforce, women you work with or women you know. Then imagine that you are commenting on a HN article post and blaming the woman for not doing more. What benefit, if any, does that have for our society?