Being a Member of Congress Is a Sexual Predator's Dream Job
Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloan  made  her  name as an ethics watchdog in DC  but more recently  she 's emerged as another prominent critic of the HR disaster that is the United States Congressâwith  her  own experience to boot. When  she  got a job on the Hill working for Congressman John Conyers in 1995   she 'd heard there was a lot of sexual harassment taking place there   she  recalled. Still  given that  she  was a respected lawyer at the timeâand joining his staff as a minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committeeâ she  thought it would be fine.
 She  was wrong. Although  Sloan  does not think  she  was sexually harassed   she  said  her  three years at that job were characterized by verbal abuse and punctuated with bizarre incidents  like one in which  she  walked into  her  boss's office and found him in his underwear. Without an HR department   she  struggled to figure out what  she  was supposed to do.
"I did everything I could "  she  told me. "I talked to my supervisor. I talked to [then] Minority Leader [Richard] Gephardt. Externally  I talked to a women's group and a reporter. I told the reporter what happened  and he called a woman colleague of mine to check my story. She told him I was mentally unstable  and even though I'd worked with this reporter before  he told me  'Well  maybe you are mentally unstable.'"
Reporters' attitudes are obviously changing; on November 22   Sloan  was the first person to go on the record with the Washington Post about Conyers's alleged misconduct toward staffers  which she said included verbal abuse in her case but appears to have centered on unwanted touching and requests for sexual acts in others. So are societal attitudes:  Sloan  said  she  recently heard from friends of  her 's from the 90sâone who worked on the Hill and another in a big DC law firmâwho shared stories of harassment for the first time. But it might take members of Congress longer to get it together than the average person who watches the Today show. The average age of congresspeople is 57; in the Senate specifically  it is 61.
[TGT] made   [TGT]   name as an ethics watchdog in DC  but more recently   [TGT]  's emerged as another prominent critic of the HR disaster that is the United States Congressâwith   [TGT]   own experience to boot. When   [TGT]   got a job on the Hill working for Congressman John Conyers in 1995    [TGT]  'd heard there was a lot of sexual harassment taking place there    [TGT]   recalled. Still  given that   [TGT]   was a respected lawyer at the timeâand joining his staff as a minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committeeâ  [TGT]   thought it would be fine.
  [TGT]   was wrong. Although   [TGT] does not think   [TGT]   was sexually harassed    [TGT]   said  her  three years at that job were characterized by verbal abuse and punctuated with bizarre incidents  like one in which  she  walked into  her  boss's office and found him in his underwear. Without an HR department   she  struggled to figure out what  she  was supposed to do.
"I did everything I could "  she  told me. "I talked to my supervisor. I talked to [then] Minority Leader [Richard] Gephardt. Externally  I talked to a women's group and a reporter. I told the reporter what happened  and he called a woman colleague of mine to check my story. She told him I was mentally unstable  and even though I'd worked with this reporter before  he told me  'Well  maybe you are mentally unstable.'"
Reporters' attitudes are obviously changing; on November 22   Sloan  was the first person to go on the record with the Washington Post about Conyers's alleged misconduct toward staffers  which she said included verbal abuse in her case but appears to have centered on unwanted touching and requests for sexual acts in others. So are societal attitudes:  Sloan  said  she  recently heard from friends of  her 's from the 90sâone who worked on the Hill and another in a big DC law firmâwho shared stories of harassment for the first time. But it might take members of Congress longer to get it together than the average person who watches the Today show. The average age of congresspeople is 57; in the Senate specifically  it is 61.