Rep. Hill's exit prompts question of equity

The resignation of a female Democratic congress woman over a consensual, sexual relationship with a campaign aide has sparked questions about whether women are held to higher standards in public life.

At the center of the controversy is Katie Hill, a first-term lawmaker from California and arising Democratic Party star.

In a video released Monday, Hill said she was stepping down because she was “fearful of what might come next” following the online publication of explicit pictures that outed her relationship with a female staffer.

Sex scandals are nothing new in national politics and have mostly centered on men, some of whom have weathered the controversy and gone on to have successful careers.

One of Hill's congressional colleagues, Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, is running for reelection despite being charged with using campaign funds to finance romantic flings with lobbyists and congressional aides.

That' s prompted some to question why Democrats supported Hill's resignation.

“Some of her behavior, if a man did it, we would say it was wrong and inappropriate. But she is being held to a different standard,” said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Hill acknowledged t he relationship with the camHill paignai de

after private photos of her with the woman were posted online, first by a conservative website. Hill said the relationship was consensual and blamed her estranged husband for revealing the information.

Hill and her husband are in the midst of an acrimonious divorce.

Hill has denied another allegation that she was having an affair with a male congressional adviser, a relationship that would have run afoul of House rules put in place last year that ban any relationship between lawmakers and staff.

Those rules were enacted following a string of misconduct allegations involving male colleagues.

The House opened an ethics investigation into the allegations about Hill, but the California Democrat announced her resignation within days of the committee launching the probe.

House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had tapped Hill for a coveted leadership post after she unseated a Republican in the suburban Los Angeles swing district, called her continued service “untenable.”

“We must ensure a climate of integrity and dignity in the Congress, and in all workplaces,” Pelosi said Sunday in a statement.