Although the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives fall under the same roof — that of the State House — they differ in the methods they use to combat sexual harassment in the political sphere.
Multiple anonymous accounts from women who had experienced sexual harassment or assault in the State House were brought to light in late October. In response, Rep. Robert DeLeo released a statement following the revelation about the culture of harassment inside of the House of Representatives.
“I want to assure all members, employees and visitors of/to the House of Representatives that the House of Representatives has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of any form and has, and will continue to, thoroughly investigate any reported incident of harassment and take decisive and appropriate action to discipline offenders and protect victims,” DeLeo said in his statement
The House Committee on Ethics has full authority to conduct investigations into sexual harassment complaints, according to a rule in the House of Representatives employee handbook. The chairman also has the right to convene the committee at any time.
DeLeo also released a document ordering a full review of all current structures in place to prevent or address sexual harassment in the House.
DeLeo’s office has reiterated any victim of harassment or misconduct will be protected by the House if they come forward about their experiences, according to a statement from the office.
“The Speaker encourages victims of sexual harassment and/or anyone who has knowledge of an act of sexual harassment, including anyone with any information related to the incidents recently reported in the media, to contact either the Office of Human Resources or the Office of Legal Counsel immediately so that an investigation can be commenced,” the statement said.
Peter Wilson, the press secretary of Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, said the Senate also has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment, and staff members can file a complaint with the Senate if they believe they have witnessed or experienced sexual misconduct or assault in the workplace.
“They can do either a direct report, meaning to a senator or the chief staff in their office, or to the HR department or HR Director,” Wilson said. “Every allegation or complaint will be investigated thoroughly in conjunction with the HR department and Senate counsel if necessary.”
In addition to the investigation of filed complaints by the HR department, the Senate has certain policies put in place to prevent misconduct, Wilson said. These policies are available as an icon on the Senate workplace computers and are distributed to senators at the beginning of each term.
One of the main anti-harassment resources in the Senate is a mandatory in-person training about workplace conduct for both staffers and elected senators, Wilson said. This training takes place at the beginning of each two-year term and is conducted by trainers from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
The MCAD trainings begin with teaching the basic definition of sexual harassment, and then progress into more detailed subject areas like writing policies, investigating complaints and planning anti-harassment training, according to a statement from the office of Jeremy Scheiner, the director of training at MCAD.
“Online trainings offer an appeal, such as cost savings and a smaller time-investment, but research has shown they are not nearly as effective as when one participates on site,” the statement said. “At the MCAD, we provide trainings in person because we believe the best trainings involve active participation with the trainer and attendees, and take advantage of interactive components, such as scenario-based role-play and small-group work.”
Several Boston residents said this harassment is unacceptable in the workplace and they hope officials are making strides to prevent this kind of behavior.
Casper Van Coesant, 27, of South End, said he thinks more women should name their harassers publicly in an effort to stop this behavior from affecting the workplace environment.
“Obviously, I don’t think it’s acceptable or appropriate for people in power to do that to any of their colleagues,” Van Coesant said, “especially considering preventing them from doing their work is going to affect everything in the city and what the citizens are able to do towards the policies they need.”
Lauren Little, 29, of Allston, said she thinks women in the State House sharing their experiences will be beneficial for younger generations whose stories will also be heard.
“I’m a new mom, so all of the time I’m thinking about my daughter, and I hope that she will feel comfortable sharing if something were to happen to her, especially in the workplace,” Little said. “I hope she’d be respected and that she would be heard.”
Pam Steel, 69, of Back Bay, said she is grateful people are beginning to pay attention to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace and beyond.
“You feel like you are a second-class citizen as a woman,” Steel said. “Often, men feel that way too, but they tend to be in the positions of power. I look forward to more women being in politics and I think it will be a really great thing.”
