Changing the Culture of Sexual Harassment in the State House
by Elayne Clift

Becca Balint, state senator and majority leader (D,Windham) chairs the Senate Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel. photos: Jan Doerler

State senator and majority leader Becca Balint (D, Windham) knew she wanted to be in politics by age 18. She also knew, as a gay woman, that it wouldn’t be easy. As she puts it, “I didn’t know of any gay politicians except for [San Francisco city supervisor] Harvey Milk [who was assassinated in 1978], so I put it on the shelf.”

Earning a BA at Smith College, a master’s degree in education at Harvard, and another master’s in history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Balint began her career as a history and social studies teacher, but she always knew that she wasn’t doing the work she felt called to. Encouraged by several mentors and her wife, Elizabeth Wohl, to enter public service, she forged ahead, never believing she would win. But well known for her teaching and her columns in the Brattleboro Reformer, she was victorious, launching a political career in which she has championed a range of issues, including paid leave, consumer protections, affordable health care, and voter access.

Now in her second term, in addition to serving on the Economic Development and Housing Committee as well as being vice chair of the Education Committee, Balint serves as Democratic majority leader in the senate and chair of the senate’s five-member sexual harassment panel.

As majority leader it is her job to bring legislation to the floor that reflects the values of the Democratic caucus, which represents 23 of the senate’s 30 members, ranging from Democrats and Progressives to some Libertarians. “We all have different opinions on any given issue,” Balint notes, “and the challenge is to find common ground so that a bill is crafted in a way that it can make it on the full floor of the senate and then the house.” She set a goal of “opening up conversation so that regardless of topic, discussion can be framed so that everyone has a part in the conversation.” She is proud of the fact that “we do have a culture within the caucus where everyone coming into the room is able to contribute.”

Senate Sexual Harassment Panel

Balint was asked to chair the Senate Sexual Harassment Panel at the beginning of her second term in January 2017. Known as a skilled legislator by then, a good listener, and someone who “talked a lot about group dynamics and culture,” the position suited her own commitment to giving women voice, not just personally but on a larger scale that involves changing the dominant culture. Changing the culture that existed in the state house relevant to sexual harassment was something she was ready to take on.

“We interact with all the people in the capitol building, so sexual harassment is not just about legislators,” Balint says. “It’s about lobbyists, advocates, visitors, staff at every level. It’s about anyone who has to navigate the world feeling uncomfortable and powerless to say something because they may work in or visit a hostile environment. There’s a lot of work we need to do, and there are behaviors we can regulate within the building. If we don’t go about our task carefully and establish a methodical process for changing the existing culture, the work of the panel will fall short.”

“Daily interactions matter,” Balint adds. “We can create a climate in which certain situations are less likely to occur. Putting pressure on individual women to come forward is hard in the absence of sufficient support. If we all have bigger eyes on what goes on, we can call each other out when sexual harassment occurs. We need to get clear on calling out colleagues who are not being appropriate. A lot of people are still unaware of the power dynamics at play.”

Since chairing the Sexual Harassment Panel, one formal complaint has been filed, and several informal complaints have been lodged. An informal complaint can simply be reported to anyone on the panel, and often the issue is resolved by private discussion or mediation. The process for filing a formal complaint, now that both the senate and the house have such panels, involves submitting a written document to any member of the panel. The full panel then convenes. It can either ask the complainant to come forward, or it can judge the merits of the case by the written document only.

A written document leaves a paper trail, which can inhibit potential complainants who may worry about their privacy, possible retaliation, or exposure by the press. “It makes more sense to have outside legal counsel adjudicating this process,” Balint points out. “We are a citizen legislature, and we haven’t received sufficient human resources or oversight training. (There is no human resources office in the state house.) We are wrestling with how to make a formal complaint without it having to be written. There is also the issue of asking someone to face colleagues of the accused person. It’s challenging!”Balint says, “There’s been a sea change between the last legislative session and the start of this one” because of the #MeToo movement.

House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel

Mollie Burke, a Progressive/Democrat from Brattleboro, has served in the house since 2008. As chair of the House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel, she is working closely with Balint to change the culture that still allows sexual harassment to continue in the state house, despite a growing awareness of the problem. “We need to make the policy being crafted in the house public, and we need to make the environment safer through a policy that sets standards of conduct for the workplace,” says Burke.

Burke, a former figure skater, art teacher, and current artist, was asked to sit on the House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel several years ago. The panel updated a sexual harassment policy last year, but when the #MeToo movement hit, they realized that the house needed “a gold standard policy” that addressed the culture of sexual harassment and discrimination in its entirety. In January of this year, a formal meeting of the house panel was held to begin working with legal counsel to craft a comprehensive policy with the goal of having a joint review by both the house and senate panels so that there could be one policy for both chambers, with each having its own panel. That policy document from the house is being finalized and was set to be shared with the senate by mid-March. Both house and senate are hoping for a mid-April adoption of a unified policy. Says Burke, “If not for #MeToo, we wouldn’t have moved so quickly and deeply.”

 

 

Rep. Mollie Burke (P/D,Windham-2-2) chairs the House Sexual Harassment Prevention Panel.

Rep.Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D,Orange)

The House Sexual Harassment Prevention policy is designed “to provide a professional working environment and to prohibit sexual harassment and retaliation.” It “sets standards and regulates conduct of Representatives and persons employed by the Speaker and House Clerk’s office (regulated individuals) [and] is intended to protect legislators, employees of all staff offices, legislative pages and interns, and members of the public including lobbyists, advocates, and members of the press who experience sexual harassment.” It lays out various procedures, rules of confidentiality, and options for complainants.

In addition, house bill 707, introduced by Sarah Copeland-Hanzas and others and cosponsored by Mollie Burke and others, is currently in committee. It proposes various protections for Vermonters against sexual harassment including “the prohibition of employment agreements from preventing an employee from disclosing sexual harassment” and the prohibition of “employment agreements from containing provisions that waive an employee’s right or remedies with respect to a claim of sexual harassment.” The bill also allows for workplaces to be audited by the attorney general and the Human Rights Commission and calls for new education and outreach initiatives.

Thanks to women in the legislature like Becca Balint, Mollie Burke, and others, progress to end sexual harassment is being made in the Vermont State House. Still, the subtleties of the problem along with the power dynamics of politics leave challenges to be overcome. We seem to be in good hands when it comes to addressing them.

The House Sexual Harassment Prevention policy is designed “to provide a professional working environment and to prohibit sexual harassment and retaliation.” It “sets standards and regulates conduct of Representatives and persons employed by the Speaker and House Clerk’s office (regulated individuals) [and] is intended to protect legislators, employees of all staff offices, legislative pages and interns, and members of the public including lobbyists, advocates, and members of the press who experience sexual harassment.” It lays out various procedures, rules of confidentiality, and options for complainants.

In addition, house bill 707, introduced by Sarah Copeland-Hanzas and others and cosponsored by Mollie Burke and others, is currently in committee. It proposes various protections for Vermonters against sexual harassment including “the prohibition of employment agreements from preventing an employee from disclosing sexual harassment” and the prohibition of “employment agreements from containing provisions that waive an employee’s right or remedies with respect to a claim of sexual harassment.” The bill also allows for workplaces to be audited by the attorney general and the Human Rights Commission and calls for new education and outreach initiatives.

Thanks to women in the legislature like Becca Balint, Mollie Burke, and others, progress to end sexual harassment is being made in the Vermont State House. Still, the subtleties of the problem along with the power dynamics of politics leave challenges to be overcome. We seem to be in good hands when it comes to addressing them.

 
 

 

 

Elayne Clift is a regular contributor to Vermont Woman. She writes about women, health, politics, and social issues from Saxtons River, Vermont.