By Debra Kamin | New York Times
Debra Kamin spent five months interviewing real estate agents and trauma therapists across the country to report this story.
Sara Ghodsi sold auto parts before moving to San Diego and becoming a real estate agent. She didn’t have to sit in an office all day, made a good income and had the freedom to work on her own schedule, all of which she enjoyed.
But Ms. Ghodsi also understood it was a very competitive field as the number of agents across the country swelled to a record high. So when a homeowner in the coastal town of Oceanside, Calif., called and said he would consider selling, Ms. Ghodsi, eager to find a property for her client during the pandemic, agreed to meet him at his condominium — alone.
As they talked that afternoon in August 2021, the man began inching his chair closer to hers. Then he reached out, groped her thigh and forcefully kissed her.
“I kind of blacked out a little,” said Ms. Ghodsi, 37. “I was trying to be calm and collected because I was by myself in a stranger’s house. The door was maybe five feet away, but I had no idea what this guy was capable of doing.”
Across the nation, the overwhelming majority of real estate agents are women — and they are vulnerable to abuse in an industry that offers few protections, demands that they meet clients alone in empty homes and encourages them to use their appearance to help bring in buyers. Reports of harassment and occasionally physical violence, including rape and even murder, highlight the risks they face.
The National Association of Realtors reports that 66 percent of their members are women. Many were attracted to the field for the same reasons as Ms. Ghodsi: flexible schedules, a workplace that’s almost entirely remote and a licensing process that can be completed in as little as a few weeks.
