Circle of Silence -- and sexual harassment

       Colonel Stacey K. Vargas is a professor of Physics at the Virginia Military Institute.  I found her poem -- with its vicious circles -- in the wonderful and provocative anthology, Raising Lilly Ledbetter:  Women Poets Occupy the Workspace, edited by Carolyne Wright, M. L. Lyons, and Eugenia Toledo (Lost Horse Press, 2015).

Circle of Silence     by Stacey K. Vargas

Like an electron trapped in an unstable orbit, I am seated in a circle of powerful men. 
In an awkward moment small talk ends and the meeting abruptly begins.
The superintendent turns to me and says, "This was not sexual harassment."
I turn to the inspector general and say, "After everything you heard in this investigation, 
       you find this acceptable?"
The inspector general turns to my department head but remains silent. 
My department head turns to the chief of staff but remains silent.
The chief of staff turns to the superintendent but remains silent.
The superintendent turns to me and says, "This is my decision and it is final."
I turn to the inspector general and ask, "Don't you have anything else to say?"
The inspector general turns to my department head but remains silent.
My department head turns to the chief of staff but remains silent.
The chief of staff turns to the superintendent but remains silent.
I am trapped in a cycle of muted men
Like an electron transition from its ground state to a higher energy level, I break away 
       from the circle of silence.

Why can't they?