Women's Rights Employment Law Blog

Taking a stab at Mark Foley scandal, Ellen Bravo of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee throws light on why the Congress still hasn’t got in when it comes to sexual harassment.

It's 15 years since the Clarence Thomas hearings, and congressional leaders still don't get the sexual harassment issue.

Look at the Mark Foley scandal.

Hastert and company are not alone in their bungling.

# Suzanne Swift joined the armed forces, only to experience sexual harassment from three superior officers in Iraq. Swift reported an incident to an Equal Opportunity officer; nothing happened. The second was a squad leader, who Swift said "singled me out as the person he would have sex with during deployment." Only 19, she "first fell for it," then broke it off. She suffered multiple forms of retaliation. After she reported the third officer, some action was taken, but she was accused of sleeping with the man, told to read the policy on honesty and attend training on preventing harassment. Once on leave, Swift found herself unable to return to Iraq. She faces court martial.

# An aide to a big city mayor called the personnel office to ask how to file a sexual harassment complaint against him. The personnel officer told her a form would be mailed -- then promptly called the mayor's chief of staff, who alerted the entire staff. The aide claimed the mayor assaulted her nine times over five years. The mayor held a press conference to apologize for a "consensual affair," claiming it wasn't harassment because the two were "equals." Besides, his supporters maintained, she was a smart woman who knew the law. Why hadn't she come forward earlier?

# Two women engineers at a well-respected company put up with nudie posters and crude talk as the only females among 50 males. Then one of the women was ordered to accompany her boss on a long car ride to another state, something outside her job description. The manager engaged in a steady stream of sexual talk, including frequent requests to stop for wine and a hot tub. When the employee complained to the head of HR, she was told, "What happens off company property is outside our purview."

In each case, what's lacking is an understanding of power. Whether for sexual gratification or the more common purpose of humiliation and degradation, sexual harassment is an abuse of power. The imbalance makes it harder for those targeted to take action or to make it stop.