The Department of Justice is the latest government branch under fire for sexual misconduct.
Liz Wolfe, Managing Editor at Young Voices says that the detailed allegations, which surfaced in a recent Washington Post report, resembled accusations against prominent public figures such as Harvey Weinstein.
“It found just tons and tons of issues in the Justice Department, of all places,” she said. “They had complaints of male employees stalking female employees, male employees spying on women who were breastfeeding, who were pumping in their offices.”
The Office of the Inspector General released a review of the Department’s Civil Division’s mishandling of sexual harassment in May this year. The watchdog found that there were weaknesses in the way that the Civil Division tracked, reported, and investigated 11 sexual harassment misconduct claims between 2011 and 2016. It also found that employees under review were promoted or given awards.
While the Justice Department says it will change its processes, Wolfe says she’s hopeful that it will, but she’s not “super optimistic.”
“They say they are, but it’s kind of tough,” she said. “It seems like it’s only now that we’re really looking at this from a new light, that we’re paying attention to it, that these things are actually coming out.”
For full interview click here.