I was assaulted too, says congresswoman fighting the ‘silence’

JACKIE SPEIER was a junior aide in the US Congress when she was sexually assaulted. New to the world of politics, she was targeted by a senior colleague.

She recalled how a senior congressional staff member “grabbed my face with his hands, kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth”.

Ms Speier was in her 20s, her colleague was in his 50s. It was the Seventies and she decided not to speak out.

“I didn’t say anything at the time,” Ms Speier told The Sunday Telegraph. “But I made a point alone with him again.”

Since 2008, Ms Speier has been a Democrat congresswoman for California. She is the one in power now and is putting it to use. This week, in part thanks to the “Me Too Congress” campaign Ms Speier has launched, the culture of silence around harassment in US politics began to crack. After sweeping acting, modelling, media and Westminster, the firestorm triggered by the Harvey Weinstein scandal reached Washington DC, as dozens of women shared their stories of sexual harassment and abuse on Capitol Hill.

“I have been so inspired by the brave women and men who have come forward,” Ms Speier said. “I know what it’s like to keep these things hidden and to wonder if I was the one who had done something wrong.”

Kristin Nicholson, who spent 20 years as a chief of staff and aide in Congress, blames the power imbalance inherent in politics for keeping victims silent. Ms Nicholson and another former staffer, Travis Moore, drafted an open letter calling for sexual harassment training to become mandatory. The pair hoped for a hundred signatures. Within days, they had 1,500.

The Senate and the House of Representatives – the two bodies that make up Congress – have now said they will make harassment training mandatory.

But the rosy picture of advancement is an awkward fit with the allegations against several politicians, including the Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore. For Ms Speier, there is more to do. She has proposed a law that would create a victims’ advocate, stopping the imbalance where the accused are given legal support but not their accusers.

Ms Speier hopes that others will not feel bound by the silence that followed her assault. She adds:“It’s time to throw back the curtain on the repulsive behaviour that, until now, has thrived in the dark without consequences.”