Peoplesaction.org/Xoai Pham: Sexual misconduct found a home in our government.

People's Action
Sexual misconduct found a home in our government.  

Dear Reader,

One of my greatest fears walking down the street and running into a group of men.

In the United States, one in three women have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. This kind of danger doesn’t belong in our neighborhoods. It doesn’t belong anywhere.

But it especially doesn’t belong in the halls of government.

When Donald Trump was running for President, people were outraged that he had bragged about grabbing women without permission. Sixteen women publicly accused him of sexual harassment or assault during his campaign.

Since Trump’s election, twelve national politicians have been exposed as harassers. Many of them have been accused by multiple people—men and women included—of sexual misconduct or abuse. And those are just the ones we know about.

And yet, last year Congress tried to secretly gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, which upholds moral standards among elected officials. In other words, Congress wanted to weaken the one watchdog agency that oversees their behavior.

Sexual harassment is not an individual problem; it is a cultural problem. We cannot continue telling powerful men that they can do as they please at our expense. The #MeToo movement has built the momentum we need to reshape how we treat one another.

In order to transform our culture, our government must be a model of progress. Join me, Kofi. Demand that Congress make the Office of Congressional Ethics permanent, grant it subpoena power, and create an equal body in both the House and Senate.

All of us—from the top rungs of government to our neighborhood blocks—deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We deserve to be safe. I refuse to let the stories of fellow survivors of sexual violence go ignored.

Xoai Pham
People’s Action

Want to support our work? People’s Action builds powerful grassroots organizations around the country and puts people into action for change. We are committed to fight for our shared values. Together we can create a world where we all have what we need to thrive, achieve, and feel our full worth at home, at work, and in our communities. These are unprecedented times. Let’s make history.

Yes, I'll chip in $5 to fund grassroots organizing.

Yes, I'll chip in $25 to fund grassroots organizing.

Yes, I'll chip in $50 to fund grassroots organizing.

Contributions to People’s Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.