HILL STAFF VIEWS: Most Aides Rarely See Sexual Misconduct on Capitol Campus

(QUICK READ) — With the recent departures from Congress of three Members in the face of allegations of sexual and other forms of misconduct, the CNCT Capitol Pulse survey question is of particular relevance. Here’s how the issue was posed by the survey:

“In your time on Capitol Hill, how often have you observed workplace behavior that felt inappropriate or crossed a professional line?”

With so much media attention focused on the Swalwell/Gonzalez/Mills resignations, one might expect a much different response, but fully 65 percent of the staff respondents said they “rarely” or “never” witnessed inappropriate behavior.

Only 28 percent said they “occasionally” have seen improper conduct and a mere seven percent said they have seen it “frequently.” It should be noted that the phrasing of the survey question only asks if the respondent has seen such conduct, without making a distinction regarding whether it is conduct by Members or aides in question.

Not surprisingly, most of those who responded “frequently” were women working on the Hill, including 13 percent of Democrat women and 10 percent of GOP women on Hill staffs. Overall, nine percent of Democrats said “frequently” and five percent of GOP aides said the same thing.

The breakdown among those responding that they “occasionally” such bad conduct includes 44 percent of Democratic women and 30 percent of Republican women working on Hill staffs.

At the opposite end of the responses spectrum, the overall percentage for those saying they’ve never seen improper conduct included 35 percent of GOP staffers and 26 percent of Democrat aides. A similar split is seen among respondents who claim they rarely see such misconduct, including 38 percent of GOP aides and 30 percent of Democrats.