Sexual harassment and assault allegations against celebrities and national politicians have also led to claims against people in state elected office, which is forcing state legislatures around the country to grapple with whether and how to change the way they handle these complaints.
In Ohio, for example, a female employee of the Ohio Legislative Service Commission said former Republican state Sen. Cliff Hite made sexual advances toward her and offered her sex. Hite resigned after the staffer filed a complaint.
In Kansas, a former staffer said a House Democratic lawmaker propositioned her for sex in 2015. And in Washington state, three women said former state Rep. Brendan Williams, a Democrat, sexually harassed and assaulted them when he was serving in the state legislature.
In some states, lawmakers have already taken concrete steps — such as advancing legislation — to address these accusations of sexual misconduct. In others, top legislators are calling for reviews and changes to current sexual harassment policies.
In Washington, the state Senate’s Facilities and Operations Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to require all senators and their employees to take yearly sexual harassment training.
The Illinois state Senate passed a bill this month to allow an inspector general to probe ethics complaints that haven’t been addressed, and the state House passed legislation requiring all members of the legislature, state employees, and lobbyists to undergo annual training to avoid sexual harassment and assault.
The Illinois Department of Human Rights offered voluntary training to state lawmakers on Nov. 8.
According to Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts that focuses on state policy, women have come forward to allege sexual misconduct against male lawmakers in 16 states during the last month.
Only some of those states — California, Colorado, Kentucky, Oregon, and Vermont — already require their state lawmakers to receive sexual harassment training. Others require new lawmakers to undergo such training or require sexual harassment training once every five years. In other states, only one chamber of the state legislature requires training.
But with more accusers coming forward, state lawmakers have begun to take seriously the sexual harassment that the accusers say has run rampant.
In North Dakota, the bipartisan Legislative Procedure and Arrangements Committee will review its sexual harassment policy during a meeting on Dec. 6.
State lawmakers in Texas are calling for a review of the legislature’s sexual harassment policies after the Texas Tribune revealed more than 24 female former and current lawmakers and staffers in the state capitol had been sexually harassed, including being groped by male lawmakers and receiving unwanted sexual advances.
In the wake of the Texas Tribune’s findings, Rep. Linda Koop, a Republican representing Dallas, asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, also a Republican, “for a protocol to be developed and put in place for all those that work at the Capitol.”
Rep. Ina Minjarez, a Democrat, vowed to assist Koop with her efforts and said addressing sexual harassment needs to be done with bipartisan support.
“The bipartisan effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is the same level of involvement we need to solve this problem,” Minjarez said in a letter to Koop sent Thursday. “The accusations stem from staffers and interns against members of both parties. So, we have to come together in the same way to add protection and create a safe working environment.”
Kansas House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Democrat, said all House Democratic lawmakers will participate in sexual harassment training next month, and those who have committed sexual harassment face repercussions.
“Like so many of us around the state, I’ve been giving the issue of sexual harassment a lot of thought in the wake of recent allegations across the country,” Ward said in a statement. “I’ve concluded the Kansas Legislature can do more to prevent sexual harassment in the Capitol.”
Ward said he plans to push to create an independent compliance officer to probe allegations of sexual misconduct.
Maine lawmakers are calling for lawmakers to undergo mandatory sexual harassment training more frequently.
Assistant Maine Senate Minority Leader Nate Libby, a Democrat, said he’s heading up an initiative to require annual training for lawmakers. Libby also wants to codify the sexual harassment training policies that are in the state legislature’s Joint Rules, which he said aren’t sufficient enough.
“This is a very unique workplace in a lot of ways, and there’s a lot of people coming through from a lot of different backgrounds,” Libby said this week. “I think having a standard and regular form of sexual harassment awareness and prevention training would be a good thing to have.”
