Anita Hill, a woman who commands total respect among hard-line feminists and suburban moms alike, and is now a law professor at Brandeis University specializing in law and social policy, has agreed to lead a commission birthed out of the Harvey Weinstein Hollywood debacle. Hill emerged in the national dialogue on sexual harassment, after infamously testifying against Clarence Thomas's supreme court confirmation hearings in 1991. Thomas had been Hill's boss at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and she claimed very boorish, tasteless and ongoing harassment of a sexual nature from now Supreme Court Justice Thomas.

Although over 70% of Americans didn't believe Hill's testimony, women's rights advocates did, and remain unhappy with how Obama VP Joe Biden handled Hill's testimony as head of the Judiciary Committee. Biden refused to let more women coming forward against Thomas and suspended the hearing for a vote. As much as Democrat women like Joe Biden, they have never forgotten Anita's testimony and how she was treated by the white boys club in Congress.

In a recent interview with Teen Vogue, former senator and vice-president Joe Biden, who led the inquisition og Hill, said he wished he “had been able to do more” for her. He added: “I owe her an apology.”

The Commission on Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace will be charged with tackling “the broad culture of abuse and power disparity” in media and entertainment, a statement from its organisers said. The commission on sexual misconduct has been organized and financed by Hollywood's most prominent figures, writes The Guardian.

Commission organisers include Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm; Freada Kapor Klein, a venture capitalist and longtime advocate for sexual harassment victims; Nina Shaw, a Hollywood lawyer; and Maria Eitel, who co-chairs the Nike Foundation.

A meeting called on Friday attracted executives including Disney’s Bob Iger, Jim Gianopulos and Karen Stuart of Paramount, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Les Moonves of CBS. The agent Ari Emanuel, Screen Actors Guild president Gabrielle Carteris, and Dawn Hudson, CEO of the Academy of Motion Pictures, also attended.

Several major unions, guilds, and agencies have also agreed to work with the commission, which define its mission and scope after the New Year.

“The commission will not seek just one solution but a comprehensive strategy to address the complex and interrelated causes of the problems of parity and power,” said Kennedy.

With regard to her role as head of the new commission -- not embraced by every gender equality advocate in Hollywood -- Hill is eager to get started.

“It is time to end the culture of silence,” she said. “I’ve been at this work for 26 years. This moment presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to make real change.”

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