Missouri Lawmakers Respond To Sexual Harassment Of Interns By Suggesting Intern Dress Code [View all]

[Novara]

Missouri Lawmakers Respond To Sexual Harassment Of Interns By Suggesting Intern Dress Code

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"We need a good, modest, conservative dress code for both the males and females," King wrote in an email, the Huffington Post reported on Tuesday. "Removing one more distraction will help everyone keep their focus on legislative matters."

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U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said establishing an intern dress code would put responsibility for the harassment on the interns when it should be on the harasser.

In letters to the Missouri lawmakers, McCaskill (who once worked as an intern at the state legislature) wrote that the proposed solution "bitterly disappointed" her.

I refuse to stand by idly while any suggestion is made that victims of sexual harassment in the Missouri State Legislature is the responsibility of anyone other than the legislators themselves. It is the responsibility of you and your colleagues to uphold the law, protect the young people working in our state’s capital, and confront and change a culture that excuses sexual violence. This problem has nothing to do with how interns are dressed.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/missouri-legislature-intern-dress-code