Congress yet to act on flawed anti-harassment system

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico



The Senate will now require sexual harassment training — but the process for handling complaints has not been addressed.

By ELANA SCHOR 11/14/2017 05:10 AM EST

Senators in both parties are touting their move last week to require sexual harassment training for all members and aides.

What they don’t mention is that many Senate offices already required training or were moving toward it — and that their vote did nothing to reform a system for handling complaints that critics say deters victims from coming forward.

Now, some lawmakers are fighting to ensure that the Senate’s unanimous approval of mandatory training doesn’t make further reforms harder by offering political cover to members who would prefer to move on. Bipartisan talks on an overhaul of the Capitol’s harassment policy, which critics in and out of Congress say is stacked against victims, remain in their early stages.

“It's a really important conversation that the country is having” about harassment, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who’s waged underdog battles for GOP support to beef up sexual assault protections in the military and on campus.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/14/congress-harassment-training-complaints-244854?lo=ap_d1

[Angry Dragon]

1. No harassment here -move along

[keithbvadu2]

2. Congress plays by different rules on sexual harassment and misconduct

How Congress plays by different rules on sexual harassment and misconduct

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-congress-plays-by-different-rules-on-sexual-harassment-and-misconduct/2017/10/26/2b9a8412-b80c-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.c2fad8a6a2d8&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

If Whitehouse had chosen to pursue a complaint against the senator, she would have
discovered a process unlike other parts of the federal government or much of the private
sector. Her complaint likely would have been thrown out because interns have limited
harassment protections under the unique employment law that Congress applies to itself.

Congress makes its own rules about the handling of sexual complaints against members and
staff, passing laws exempting it from practices that apply to other employers.