New Hope Network, the media company responsible for the annual Natural Products Expo West event, has changed its trade show policies in response to complaints of sexual harassment at the event, which took place March 8-12 in Anaheim, CA.

Mariam Elghani, founder of Mariam's Garlic Goddess, which exhibited at the trade show, stated in a post on Linkedin that she "was asked to have sex [five] times at the #expowest #expowest2022 event, and one man tried to force himself on me this morning." The post has garnered thousands of likes, nearly a thousand comments and more than 300 shares to date.

She continued, "[three] of my female Founder friends were advanced in a sexual manner as well while on the floor—men saying their success was only because they are beautiful with big luscious lips. A man last night asked me and my friends if we are dominant or submissive in bed."

Elghani shared that she has been through a sexual assault case before, which she won in Feb. 2020. "I’m not afraid of a challenge," she stated. "What I’m afraid of is that I will have no choice but to give up my company because the men in this industry are literally putting me and other women in danger."

Adding a call to action, she invited others to take part in the change. "If you’re reading this, care about this cause and also feel there is a need for change to address the bro- culture in this industry please comment, share, message or connect me with someone who you think would be interested in being a part of this change with me." She signed her public statement "a very frustrated female entrepreneur."

Her post prompted comments from other women who shared stories of their own experiences of being sexually harassed throughout their careers. Some said that they were harassed by men at Expo West, as well.

In response, New Hope Network released the following statement:

"All of us here at New Hope Network were saddened and deeply disappointed to learn of the sexual harassment that several women reported experiencing while in Anaheim for Natural Products Expo West 2022. Harassment or assault of any nature has never been, and never will be, tolerated at New Hope Network events. We have always expected people to treat each other with kindness, dignity and respect and that is reflected in our event code of conduct, which gives us the option to remove or ban any event participant for behavior that is disruptive or harmful to the community. This includes sexual harassment. We have removed people from the show in the past for exhibiting disruptive or bullying behavior.

Our future event communications and policies will now specifically state that sexual harassment of any kind will not be tolerated and will result in removal and a future ban from New Hope Network events. In addition, we are exploring with our Informa health & safety team other steps we can take to help prevent harassment and ensure the safest, most inclusive event environments possible.

We are inspired by the strength and courage of the women who shared their experiences and are grateful for the influence their bravery will have on our work as a community to create the change required to end harassment. Cultural change does not occur overnight, but it will happen when we all play a role, take action and care for one another.

In addition, while we cannot control what happens at the parties, dinners and other ancillary events that occur around our shows, we will do what we can to influence the hosts of these events to communicate and enforce a code of conduct that is based on zero tolerance for sexual harassment and other disruptive, bullying behavior."