Since this issue was brought up I felt I had to address it. I am a female member of AA and have been sober for a number of years (I'm considered and old timer). When I was newly sober I did get hit on. I have also known a lot of women over the years who also had the same experience. There are always going to be jerks (male and female) no matter where you go when you have the larger numbers of people who are involved with a group such as there are in AA. There are a lot of reasons why this happens. These make sense (I'm not saying it is right) in light of the problems many people have to deal with when they get sober. Low self-esteem for example. Many women feel lower than ant's belly when they come in. They are starving for attention. Because they are confused and scared they fall prey to 13th steppers. That is just one example.

Mike, I'm sorry but I must respectfully disagree with you. The majority of women I know in the program do not treat a woman who falls prey to 13th stepping like a harlot. Some women will be harsh. That's their way of sponsoring (or co-sponsoring). It is not my way. I've been there so I understand. Some people need to have a finger poked in their chest and be told to shape up. Some men do too. Some people respond to that kind of sponsoring. Others do not. The beauty of the AA program is the flexibilty in working the program. A wonderful thing about this program is that we all make mistakes, sometimes BIG ones, and yet we can learn, grow and still stay sober.