Annual anti-harassment training is about to become mandatory for all members of the United States congress and their staff.
The bipartisan measure, which passed through the House of Representatives yesterday, follows allegations of sexual assault against Democratic representative John Conyers, senator Al Franken, as well as republican candidate Roy Moore who’s running for a seat in the senate.
“We cannot and we will not tolerate that kind of behavior,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told journalists, The Los Angeles Times reports. “We need to have a comprehensive review of all of these things so that we can have a comprehensive response.”
The fact some of the most powerful men in the US require training (and an annual check-up) to understand what constitutes sexual harassment is remarkable in itself.
But what the men making the decisions are missing is one simple solution.
There is a way to sustainably change a culture of sexual harassment that doesn’t involve half-hearted seminars in air-conditioned rooms with tables of empty notebooks.
Elect more women.
This is the message of Michigan Democratic candidate Dana Nessel, who is running to be the state’s attorney general.
LISTEN: The revolution has come for Don Burke.
“If the last few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that we need more women in positions of power, not less,” Nessel says in a new online campaign.