From Politics to Policy 1

From Politics to Policy

WRT 102 Argumentative Essay

Prof. Thompson

Aline Araújo Teixeira

Dec 2018
From Politics to Policy 2

In recent years, sexual misconduct allegations against politicians have become

more frequent, raising questions concerning the appropriate way to handle such

allegations and sharpening the disparity of partisan views on the matter. Regardless of

the political or ideological agenda behind such views, it is agreed that many instances

of sexual abuse in politics have not been properly investigated and punished, which

has generated a lot of controversy and debate. The severity and urgency of this issue

call for immediate solutions as well as more definite, long-term determinations. The

starting point in cases of sexual misconduct involving politicians should be the

conduction of a serious and thorough investigation, accompanied by a pause in the

politician’s activities for as long as the investigation takes to reach a conclusion. If

considered guilty, the accused must be stripped of his political powers and benefits

and prohibited to run for office.

Before we dive into the repercussions of sexual abuse in the political scene

and discuss the proposed resolution, it is crucial for us to understand the gravity of

sexual abuse and the serious negative consequences it brings to its survivors. We need

to take a closer look at how poorly this crime has been handled when compared to

assault and battery crimes, for example, and examine the reasons behind it. Only then

will we be able to attribute the correct weight to this issue and work on ways to

properly address it and prevent it.

An American is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds and one in five women

will be sexually assaulted in some point of her life, according to RAINN.org. One in

six women have been raped and ninety percent of all rapes are committed against

women. Not to mention the horrid statistics involving children and adolescents who

fall prey to sexual abuse. The survivors of sexual abuse experience several

pathologies that can be manifested biologically, psychologically and sociologically.

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Sexual assault is the most frequent cause of PTSD in women, and the lifetime

prevalence of PTSD for women who have been sexually assaulted is 50%.

Survivors often report feelings of shame, terror and guilt, and may develop

depression, anxiety, PTSD, personality disruptions, sleep and eating disorders,

attachment issues and substance abuse. They might also inflict physical harm on

themselves or become suicidal. As the title of an article about rape published on The

American Journal of Psychiatry describes it, sexual assault is “worse than death”.

Considering the alarming statistics of sexual abuse and the intense trauma

experienced by its survivors, it is shocking to see how little importance it has been

given, which goes along with the statement made by Thomas I. Emerson on the

foreword of Catharine MacKinnon’s book Sexual Harassment of Working Women:

“Sexual harassment of working women has been one of the most pervasive but

carefully ignored features of our national life”.

Some individuals wonder why victims of sexual abuse don’t come forward or

only do so after a long time. Not reporting sexual assault is actually the norm; victims

fear being shamed, stigmatized, having their whole lives and credibility questioned,

and certainly don’t want to relive the traumatic experience. Aside from these

problems, there is also the fact that police don’t pay as much attention to these cases

as they do with other crimes.

According to RAINN, for every 1000 rapes, only six perpetrators are

incarcerated, which is a world of distance from the 33 perpetrators locked up in cases

of assault and battery. Those numbers are quite alarming, especially if we compare the

nature of the two types of crime, with rape being considered much more serious. The

criminal justice gives much less attention to sexual assault than other crimes: only 18
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per cent of reported rapes lead to arrest, as opposed to 41 per cent of reported assault

and battery crimes.

When we take into consideration the way feminist theories view sexual

harassment, we better comprehend the inferior significance attributed to sexual abuse

cases. After all, they are “a product of a gender system maintained by a dominant,

normative form of masculinity”, as it is further explained by Dr. Kelly Dittman, an

assistant professor of political science at Rutgers University and a scholar at the

Center for American Women and Politics: “It all comes down to power, and

particularly imbalances of power, that have been established a long ago and have been

perpetuated. Those in power use that power to protect themselves and to pressure

those who don’t have the same degree of power to not speak up”.

Unsurprisingly, survivors’ rights and agencies are constantly put in second

place, since most of them are composed of women testifying against male, powerful

figures. The gender inequality in Politics as well as in many other areas of our society

is undeniable and plays an important role in the way sexual harassment is perceived

and addressed.

Gladly, a few decisive steps have been taken to bring light to the matter. The

Violence Against Women Act, from 1994 and recently the #metoo movement have

helped increase the number of police officers and resources dedicated to sexual cases

as the police departments and officers have also become more aware.

When it comes to sexual harassment accusations in Politics, the lack of

accountable processes and procedures is even more appalling. Policymakers either

don’t comprehend the magnitude of the problem or are too concerned with their own

parties’ agendas. For that reason, and in pursuit of an effective approach to sexual

harassment in Politics, we need to seek a non-partisan resolution that holds abusers

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accountable and promotes cultural change against the structural imbalance of power

in Politics.

An initiative created by three politicians from Illinois seeks to combat sexual

harassment in Politics through a series of recommendations while promoting women’s

participation in leadership roles and in Politics. Among the suggestions made by the

Illinois Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access (AHEA) Panel are the adoption of clear

and non-negotiable policies, providing anti-harassment training to anyone involved in

political campaigns, the establishment of an independent body to receive and

investigate complaints, the conduction of fair and thorough investigations and

providing support services for victims of sexual harassment.

In order to change the current culture in Politics, the AHEA aspires to elect

more women to office in Illinois and believes all parties should invest money in

training women, developing their talent and encouraging them to take on leadership

roles in campaigns and political organizations.

Even though the initiative is fairly new, having emerged in the spring of 2018,

it provides a direction towards the right path in the fight against sexual harassment in

Politics. Their policy recommendations “can be applied to any state or local

campaign, to any party and at any level of politics”. The AHEA tackles the more

urgent and immediate problems concerning sexual harassment and at the same time

helps to establish a new culture in Politics.

The Panel might be composed of democrats, but its members organized AHEA

to be a non-profit with non-partisan status, which goes along with the belief that

sexual harassment is more important than any affiliation, political party or social

status. If AHEA succeeds in getting more parties to follow in their footsteps, we might

see some real change happen very soon.

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While we appreciate AHEA’s efforts and hope it infects all the parties and

every corner of the political world, we cannot wait passively for this transformation to

occur. We must make sure that these changes reach the legislative level, by proposing

better state and federal laws concerning the issue. To accomplish such a thing, we

must vote for representatives who will commit to take this matter seriously and update

the laws regarding sexual harassment.

We cannot risk repeating the outcome of Kavanaugh’s case. We need to cease

putting people who might have committed crimes in positions of power. A tweet by

@emrazz about the case says “Brock Turners grow up to be Brett Kavanaughs who

make the rules for Brock Turners”. She is right. We have to do something about it

now, and break this endless cycle for good.

As for the cultural shift, we can and must be actively in charge of it. We need

to educate ourselves and others, continue to fight for gender equality in all spheres

and encourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward. We have a long and difficult

journey ahead of us, but once we get to our destination it will be worth it.
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Works Cited

Ettachfini, L. (2018). These 9 Politicians Have Resigned for Sexual Misconduct in the

wake of #metoo. Retrieved from

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/kzkeyv/these-9-politicians-have-

resigned-for-sexual-misconduct-in-the-wake-of-metoo

Feminist Next Door. @Emrazz. “Brock Turners grow up to be Brett Kavanaughs

who make the rules for Brock Turners”. 26 Sept 2018. 8:08 PM.

Tweet.

Lopez, G. (2018). Why didn’t Kavanaugh’s accuser come forward earlier? Police

often ignore sexual assault allegations. Retrieved from

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-

politics/2018/9/19/17878450/kavanaugh-ford-sexual-assault-rape-

accusations-police

MacKinnon, C. A. (1979). Sexual harassment of working women: A case of sex

discrimination. New Haven: Yale University Press.

The Illinois Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access Panel’s Report on Advancing

Women In Politics and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Political

Campaigns (2018). Retrieved from

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b1ac0062971146aa33a72d9/t/5

bab43e0e2c4833a6f80dec9/1537950731631/AHEA+Panel+Report.pdf

Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2004). Sexual Harassment as a Gendered Expression of

Power. American Sociological Review,69(1), 64-92. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3593075