4 female lawmakers say congressmen propositioned them, harassed them, and even groped them on the House floor

The Capitol building.
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

One current and three former female lawmakers say they were sexually harassed by their fellow members of Congress, The Associated Press reports. The incidents in question occurred years or decades ago and come as more men and women are telling their stories of being sexually harassed or assaulted. The lawmakers did not report these incidents at the time and declined to name their perpetrators to AP, but at least two of the men accused continue to serve in the House, the women said.

Recently retired California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) recounted to AP how during a hearing in the 1980s, a fellow congressman drew laughter from their colleagues when he said he wanted to "associate" with her remarks, as well as "associate himself with the gentle lady." Boxer said that the committee chairman seconded the suggestive quip, which played on congressional jargon to imbue a sexual meaning, and that she later asked for the exchange to be stricken from the record.

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Kelly O'Meara Morales

Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.