At the D.C. Council’s last legislative meeting before recess, there were allusions to joint committee hearings to be held during the recess to assess the D.C. government’s response to sexual harassment complaints.
Those joint hearings, to be conducted by the D.C. Council’s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor and the Committee on Business and Economic Development, never came to fruition.
However, as a staffer in the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor explained to The Informer, D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At Large), the chair of that committee, spent the latter part of the summer circulating a 12-question survey to directors, general counsel, and chiefs of staff at more than 70 District agencies.
Bonds also met privately with some general counsel, the staffer added.
The staffer said that the survey data, which ascertains how each agency has responded to sexual harassment allegations since 2017, will be collected before the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor conducts a government witness-only public roundtable, tentatively scheduled for October.
The information collected from the roundtable and surveys will inform legislation that Bonds hopes to introduce before the end of the year, the staffer added.
“Once we started looking at [the issue] and not seeing a set way that agencies could address complaints, Council member Bonds thought it would be best to get specific information from each agency to get context, as opposed to holding a hearing without background,” said the staffer, who requested anonymity.
When asked about D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie’s part in this endeavor, the staffer said that Bonds moved forward to directly engage higher-level officials within District agencies. The staffer, however, hinted at the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor and the Committee on Business and Economic Development, which McDuffie chairs, eventually collaborating on this matter.
The Informer unsuccessfully attempted to gather comment from McDuffie’s office.
As of now, the legislation in question will most likely include elements of an order that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) issued in 2017 to address sexual harassment in D.C. government agencies, specifically sexual harassment training for employees and the installment of sexual harassment officers (SHOs) in each agency.
In regard to SHOs, the committee staffer said that Bonds will likely explore the creation of a team of highly trained SHOs to be housed within the D.C. Office of Human Resources or deputy mayor clusters.
Right now, SHOs who are appointed in each agency often volunteer for the position or lack the experience necessary to facilitate an investigation, the staffer said.
“The SHOs would hear cases that pass that first level of scrutiny,” the staffer said. “When someone files a complaint and the agency sees that something may have happened, one of these specialists can look at this case and give an unbiased look to see if it warrants further action.”
On Monday, Sept. 18, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said he spoke with Bonds about her process, which he said aligns with similar actions the D.C. Office of Inspector General has taken over the last few months.
In July, the D.C. Council approved emergency legislation requiring the District’s inspector general to hire independent counsel to review a report that the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) released about the allegations of sexual harassment brought against John Falccichio, the former deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
Earlier this year, Falccichio resigned from his position in response to the allegations. In the weeks and months following, the Bowser administration has received criticism for what’s been described as the lack of transparency around the allegations and its investigation.
On Tuesday, Sept. 19, the D.C. Council was scheduled to conduct a second reading of the Sexual Harassment Investigation Review Temporary Act. The legislation picks up where the aforementioned emergency legislation leaves off, extending the time for the independent review of the Falcicchio investigation.
D.C. Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), who championed both bills, told The Informer that an independent contractor hasn’t been chosen as of yet, as communicated to her by the D.C. inspector general’s office.
Sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual violence, have become more prominent topics of discussion in the “Me Too” era as survivors feel more supported in exposing alleged attackers.
Salim Adofo, an advisory neighborhood commissioner and candidate for the Ward 8 D.C. Council seat, has made tackling domestic violence part of his campaign platform. He said that D.C. residents must have the institutional support needed to bring perpetrators of sexual violence to justice.
In recent weeks, Adofo has espoused support for the Sexual Assault Survivors Amendment Act, which standardizes the handling of rape kits and other physical evidence pertaining to sexual assault cases.
Adofo told The Informer that the D.C. Council must apply a similar level of care to not only investigating sexual harassment in the D.C. government but speaking candidly about the phenomenon in public spaces.
“We’re in a society where, as it pertains to survivors of assault, they’ve had to prove that it happened and folks didn’t take them seriously,” Adofo said. “The ‘Me Too’ movement has empowered sisters, but we need to create a network of support so it’s not a one-time thing. We should talk about it in the workplace, our government agencies and our schools.”
