The U.S. Congress recently approved new legislation to provide sexual harassment training to House members and their employees. The measure allots a total of $500,000 for sexual harassment training purposes. The congresswoman who spearheaded the legislation wants the training to be made mandatory for House members across the United States, including Florida. However, at this time it will be voluntary.
According to the congresswoman who introduced the rule, American voters expect their political representatives to behave responsibly, in a manner that reflects their important positions in government. She further said that members of Congress should not behave like fraternity brothers. She says that, given recent events, many politicians have not been behaving appropriately.
The measure was introduced after a married congressman was caught smooching with one of his aides. However, the congresswoman sponsoring the bill said that this was not the only reason for its introduction. She says that a number of recent and embarrassing events brought a lot attention to the problem of politicians and sexual harassment. To make her point, she made reference to staff members sexting young pages, the recent scandal of Mayor Bob Filner from San Diego (a former member of Congress) and numerous other events.
There is never any excuse for sexual harassment in the workplace. Indeed, regardless of how powerful one’s boss is, or how low the position of the victimized employee, those who are subjected to such abuse are protected by the law. By making use applicable state and federal laws, numerous Florida residents have asserted their rights before the court system, put a stop to their abuse and brought their abusers to justice.
Source: CNN, “House passes funding for expanded sexual harassment training“, Deirdre Walsh and Ashley Killough, May 1, 2014