Skip to main content
Statement

MomsRising: We Have a Sexual Assault and Harassment Crisis in America, and It Should Not Be a Partisan Issue

November 21, 2017
Workplace Justice

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and Executive Director of MomsRising
“A whopping one-in-four women say they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. One-in-three women have experienced some form of sexual violence in her lifetime. Almost 23 million women have been victims of rape or attempted rape in the United States.
 
“We believe women. We believe facts.
 
“Sexual harassment and assault is not ‘locker room talk,’ and it is absolutely unacceptable in any workplace, and most certainly in any political office—where office holders should strive to be role models. It is also clear that our nation’s sexual harassment and assault crisis is not a partisan issue. It cuts across every industry and sector of society, and it must stop—period.  
 
“It must be noted that due to disparities in power both in and outside of the workplace, women, and especially women of color, often risk their income, safety, and livelihoods when they seek out even basic remedies for the crimes committed against them.  As we recognize the women who have come forward, we recognize that millions of other women—many of whom work in positions where their abuser is not a public figure - still face barriers to justice.
 
“We know, and research backs up, that one solution to changing the culture that allows sexual assault and harassment to thrive in the workplace is to hire and promote more women in every sector—including in elected office. Representation matters, and when more women are at the table, it will help change the culture.
 
“MomsRising stands with the millions of women who have faced any act of harassment or assault, and with the brave survivors who have come forward in the #MeToo movement. We are thankful for the leadership of Tarana Burke who created the #MeToo movement years ago.”
 

# # # #

MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.