Moylan-Backed Measures Cracking Down on Sexual Harassment Pass General Assembly

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In response to widespread reports of sexual harassment being committed against female lobbyists, staffers, and legislators, state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, supported a package of legislative measures to crack down on sexual harassment, ensure offenders are brought to justice, and that steps are taken to continue combating workplace discrimination and harassment in both the public and private sector.

“I am sickened by the disgusting acts of sexual harassment that have been brought to light by my female colleagues,” Moylan said. “No woman should ever be treated this way. We need to change the culture that has allowed unacceptable behavior to be accepted as commonplace; we need to show women that we hear them, believe them, and stand with them; and we need to show perpetrators that their actions have no place in our workplaces or in our community.”

Moylan voted to pass Senate Bill 402, which will require every legislator, staffer and lobbyist to complete an annual sexual harassment training program. Lobbyist businesses will also be required to create and enforce their own internal sexual harassment policies, similar to what legislative staffs are already required to have in place. Additionally, Moylan sponsored House Joint Resolution 83, which calls on individuals involved in Illinois politics to reject harassment and work to put an end to it.

Acting to empower the new legislative inspector general who will be charged with investigating allegations of harassment and other violations, Moylan stood with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to pass House Bill 137, which allows complete investigations of all complaints pending with the inspector general’s office, despite a one-year statute of limitations.

Moylan is also supporting efforts to create a task force to conduct a comprehensive review of the legal and social consequences of sexual discrimination and harassment in both the public and private sector and make recommendations to the General Assembly to combat this behavior.

“We have a duty to change our culture and to ensure women are treated with dignity and respect both in the public sector and private businesses, and it starts with us,” Moylan. “These measures represent the beginning of a conversation that will continue in the coming weeks, months, and years about the need to end sexual harassment and discrimination.”