The nation is focusing on sexual harassment in Congress, but what about in your state capital?
“Since last year, at least 40 lawmakers – nearly all men – in 20 states have been publicly accused by more than 100 people of some form of sexual misconduct or harassment,” USA Today reports.
Every state has different requirements for sexual harassment training, and each legislature handles accusations differently. This, combined with the drop in the number of reporters covering statehouses, has left many allegations unaddressed even as more women have entered politics.
For years, researchers and advocates thought that simply increasing the number of women in politics would reduce the amount of harassment and violence they encountered. But that hasn’t turned out to be the case, even in places where the numbers of women in high government office have been on the rise, says Mona Lena Krook a Rutgers political science professor. “The resistance to women’s participation has just taken new forms,” she says. “There’s been a pushback against women’s inclusion.”
We’ll look at what it will take to make statehouses safer work environments and get more women into politics.
GUESTS
Reid Wilson, National correspondent, The Hill; @PoliticsReid
Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO, the National Women’s Law Center; a lawyer who specializes in anti-discrimination law; @FGossGraves
Sen. Diane Allen, Republican representing New Jersey’s 7th Legislative District, Burlington County; @dianeallennj
Rep. Amy Nielsen, Democrat representing Iowa’s 77th Legislative District, North Liberty and Johnson County; @RepAmyNielsen
Rep. Wesley Morgan, Republican representing Kentucky’s 81st House District, including Richmond and Berea; @WesleyMorganKY
For more, visit https://the1a.org.
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