* The Illinois Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access panel released its full report today. You can read some newspaper coverage here and here.

Press release excerpt…

The Illinois Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access (AHEA) Panel today released its report that outlines recommendations for political party leaders and campaigns to adopt in order to change the culture and behaviors that have allowed sexual harassment to pervade our political system and stunt the advancement of women for decades.

A non-partisan organization led by State Comptroller Susana A.​ ​Mendoza, State Sen. Melinda Bush (31s​ t District, Grayslake) and State Rep. Carol Ammons (103r​ d​ District, Champaign), the Panel sent its report to Democratic, Green, Libertarian, and Republican party leaders at the state and county level as well as all statewide and state-level campaigns registered with the State Board of Elections. The Panel is asking them to adopt the tenets of the report and offering to meet with leaders to provide feedback, guidance and input on its recommendations as well as next steps. The panel has asked county chairs to share the report with other county and municipal campaigns and party leaders.

* The full report is pretty big, so we’re going to look at it in chunks today. Let’s start with some excerpts from the panel’s model anti-harassment policy for campaigns…

We, [Name of Campaign], are committed to creating a respectful and safe working environment for every individual that works on this campaign, including campaign staff, independent contractors, volunteers, vendors, consultants, fundraisers, interns, and candidates (“Campaign Workers”). [Name of Campaign] does not tolerate harassment, bullying, or discrimination of any kind, in the workplace or in work-related situations. To achieve an environment that is free of harassment, bullying, and discrimination, it is essential that Campaign Workers feel comfortable raising complaints about harassment or other misconduct when they see or experience it. Therefore, [Name of Campaign] strictly prohibits any form of retaliation against a Campaign Worker who reports or assists in reporting a concern regarding a violation of this Policy.

I. Who is Covered
This Policy applies to all individuals that work on this campaign, including but not limited to candidates, campaign staff, independent contractors, volunteers, vendors, consultants, and fundraisers. […]

Managers, supervisors, and any other individuals with supervisory authority must report suspected violations of this Policy when they become aware of such a violation. […]

III. Prohibition Against Harassment
This Policy prohibits harassment. For the purposes of this Policy, harassment is conduct that creates a disrespectful, intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for a Campaign Worker based on that Campaign Worker’s protected status. […]

While not an exhaustive list, harassment can include the following types of conduct:

● Derogatory or insensitive jokes, comments, or pranks;
● Sharing the derogatory or insensitive jokes, comments, or pranks from others;
● Use of slurs or epithets;
● Inappropriate familiarity, invasive questions about personal lives or relationships;
● Unwelcome sexual or romantic advances or invitations (including asking a Campaign Worker out more than once if the Campaign Worker declines the first invitation);
● Displaying or sharing images such as posters, videos, photos, cartoons, screensavers, emails, or drawings that are derogatory or sexual;
● Comments about appearance, or other personal or physical characteristics, such as sexually charged comments or comments on someone’s physical disability;
● Comments about the appearance, or other personal or physical characteristics, even if it is about other people; or
● Unwanted bodily contact such as groping or massaging, blocking normal movement, unnecessary touching, or physically interfering with the work of another individual.

IV. Prohibition Against Bullying
This Policy prohibits bullying. Bullying is repeated behavior that a reasonable Campaign Worker would find disrespectful, intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive, regardless of whether the conduct is based on a Campaign Worker’s protected status.

While this is not an exhaustive list, bullying behavior can appear as the following:

● Excessive monitoring or micromanaging of a Campaign Worker;
● Deliberately excluding a Campaign Worker or isolating him or her from work-related activities that he or she would normally be included in;
● Singling out a Campaign Worker for unfavorable work assignments or demands;
● Regularly teasing or making a Campaign Worker the brunt of pranks or practical jokes;
● Publicly reprimanding, embarrassing, or shouting at a Campaign Worker; […]

VI. Role of Bystanders
Bystanders should speak up if they see or hear something that they believe violates the Policy, or something that they think is inappropriate, including suspected instances of retaliation. Bystanders are encouraged to intervene on the spot when they see inappropriate behavior unless doing so would risk the bystander’s physical safety. If bystanders do not believe that they can safely intervene – for example, if the offender is threatening violence – bystanders are expected to call law enforcement. […]

VII. Prohibition Against Retaliation
[Name of the Campaign] strictly prohibits any form of retaliation against a Campaign Worker, who reports or assists in reporting a concern regarding a violation of this Policy. Retaliation against a Campaign Worker is a violation of this Policy and the retaliating individual will be subject to discipline under this Policy. […]

VIII. Procedures for Reporting a Violation of the Policy
If you suspect harassment, bullying, discrimination, or retaliation has occurred, you are encouraged (and supervisors are required) to promptly provide a written or oral complaint internally to your immediate supervisor, the Campaign Manager, or [another option internal to the campaign]. In addition or alternatively, you may also report the conduct to the Independent Body of the State Party which has been formed to fairly and neutrally investigate these claims from campaigns that are affiliated with the Party. […]

IX. Possible Outcomes from Violations
The Independent Body of the State Party is committed to investigations that have just and fair outcomes. If an investigation reveals that a violation of this Policy occurred, the offender will be disciplined, but the punishment will be proportional to the violation, with repeat offenses receiving increasing discipline. The Independent Body of the State Party will prepare and publish a matrix of the possible outcomes that will be imposed based on a range of behaviors and repeat offenses.

Discuss.