As part of an effort to call attention to the cumbersome procedure for reporting sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) on Friday shared the story of an unwanted sexual advance while working as a congressional staffer.
“Like so many of you, I have a ‘Me Too’ story to share. I was working as a congressional staffer. The chief of staff held my face, kissed me, and stuck his tongue in my mouth,” Speier said in a video released Friday. “So I know what it’s like to keep these things hidden deep down inside. I know what it’s like to lie in bed awake at night, wondering if I was the one who had done something wrong. I know what it’s like years later to remember that rush of humiliation and anger.”
“Many of us in Congress know what it’s like because Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long,” she added.
Speier plans to introduce legislation to update the process for reporting sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill through the Office of Compliance, hoping to make it easier for staffers to report and address inappropriate behavior.
The congresswoman told Politico that the current system in place is “toothless” and “a joke.”
“There’s no accountability whatsoever,” she said. “It’s rigged in favor of the institution and the members, and we can’t tolerate that.”
Under the current system, victims must attend mediation or counseling for up to three months before they can file a complaint, and members and staffers are not required to attend sexual harassment training, per Politico.
Speier is pushing to change the system for reporting sexual harassment and assault on Capitol Hill after several high-profile men, including Harvey Weinstein, Leon Wieseltier, and Mark Halperin, have been accused of serial sexual misconduct.
Watch the video released by her office:
I am sick to death of special rules for congressmen. Nearly everybody else in the US is subject to work place rules including training concerning sexual harassment. Why not congress. What is really sick is the victims are expected to go to mediation/counselling for months before they can file a complaint. This is unconscionable.
Victims have to attend mediation or counselling for three months to make a complaint.
That is utterly disgusting and corrupt.
Well at least the old white guys who developed this “system” removed the mandatory ultrasound procedure.
“Speier plans to introduce legislation to update the process for reporting sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill through the Office of Compliance, hoping to make it easier for staffers to report and address inappropriate behavior.”’
I’ve got a suggestion: a giant billboard sized list of accused people right outside the Capitol building’s entrance. Got accused and some minimum standard of proof was produced? BOOM! Name in lights! See how they like that.
Not only that, all of Congress is EXEMPT from the “Insider Trading Rules” of the SEC.
They passed a law saying that last year, in response to accusations of; “insider trading” by congressmen.