The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit profiles a soon-to-be unveiled process for reporting sexual misconduct within the ranks of San Francisco’s powerful and influential Democratic Party. Bigad Shaban reports.
San Francisco is taking unprecedented steps to clean up its politics. Democratic leaders have been increasingly concerned over what they see as a lack of accountability when it comes to sexual harassment and abuse within political campaigns as well as government offices.
Now, some in the party are preparing to unveil a new plan to hold powerful politicians accountable.
“At stake to a survivor is their entire career,” said Lily Ho, an elected member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. “The system that we have around who rises to power is based on influence and influence actually is what protects and enables these predators to exist.”
San Francisco Democrats unveil plan to clean up politics
The DCCC is the governing body that decides which local candidates get endorsed by the Democratic Party. In left-leaning San Francisco, where 63 percent of registered voters are democrats, the group carries an immense amount of political power and has set its sights on sexual misconduct in politics and what it sees as a lack of accountability. Political campaigns, for example, aren’t equipped with human resources staff to investigate complaints of harassment or abuse.
We continue to promote abusers without knowing it.
Lily Ho, elected member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee
“It's not just underreporting, there is just, literally, no reporting,” said Ho, who chairs the DCCC's Special Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment. “We continue to promote abusers without knowing it.”
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Which is why Ho and other Democratic leaders in San Francisco have been working for months to create a first-of-its kind accountability system and code of conduct for political leaders and up-and-coming candidates. The female-led effort within San Francisco's Democratic Party also resulted in the creation of a new type of process for reporting sexual misconduct – ranging from verbal harassment to physical abuse.
“It wasn't that these issues weren't known, but literally no one did anything about it,” Ho said. “This system empowers survivors to speak up and also teaches local leaders on how to navigate these situations.”
Beginning this year, all candidates and senior campaign staff in San Francisco must now complete sexual harassment training in order to secure an official Democratic Party endorsement.
Democratic leadership is currently assembling a staff of independent investigators, including pro bono attorneys, who will eventually take on complaints and determine what kind of punishment, if any, might be appropriate. Potential outcomes could include private or public admonishments, referrals to law enforcement, and even expulsion from the San Francisco DCCC, essentially blacklisting politicians from even running for office as a Democrat again.
“These policies are not meant to be a gotcha moment or to ruin anyone's career,” Ho said. “But we want everybody in the political system to be mindful and be leaders and hold accountability amongst themselves.”
Democratic leaders hope to launch its new reporting process by this summer.
“I think it's a really good start,” said Ruth Ferguson, a former California legislative staffer. “Also, it's a start.”
Ferguson has always been drawn to politics. She started volunteering in city government as a young teen, but by her mid-20s, she says working in the political arena nearly destroyed her.
“There was a point where I thought my life was over,” Ferguson said while wiping away tears. “I felt like all that I was and had worked toward and the whole core of who I was, was just, like, decimated.”
Ferguson said while working as a staffer for a state lawmaker she experienced “sexual harassment” by one of her male supervisors, which included regular requests for her to rate other female staff and lawmakers on their looks. At times, those requests came in the form of text messages, which Ferguson provided to the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.
“To me it felt very blatant,” she said. “It created a toxic and hostile work environment that then made it very difficult for me to focus on my work.”
It created a toxic and hostile work environment that then made it very difficult for me to focus on my work.
Ruth Ferguson, former legislative staffer who says she was sexually harassed by a supervisor
Power dynamics in politics create environment ripe for abuse, say critics
About 40 percent of women across America say they’ve experienced some type of sexual harassment at work, according to the ‘Women in the Workforce’ report released last year. Within the realm of politics, some fear the prevalence of sexual misconduct could be even worse.
“It can often be like, ‘if I tell somebody, I might impact my capacity to grow in my career,’” said marriage and family therapist Bindu Kharana-Brown, who has counseled survivors of sexual assault and harassment for 20 years. She says the power dynamics in politics can create an environment ripe for abuse.
“When we treat people in positions of power as if they're untouchable, that they are allowed to do things to people because they're in a less than position, regardless of the nature of the abuse, it allows this culture to continue,” she said.
When we treat people in positions of power as if they're untouchable...it allows this culture to continue
Bindu Kharana-Brown, marriage and family therapist
What are other political parties doing about sexual misconduct?
The Investigative Unit also reached out to other major political parties in San Francisco to find out what they are doing about sexual misconduct. San Francisco’s Republican Party tells us it doesn’t believe that has been a problem within its ranks and does not see any need to create a new system to investigate these kinds of complaints. San Francisco’s chapter of the Green Party doesn’t have a reporting system specifically for sexual misconduct but says it does have a process to report a wide-range of complaints, including harassment.
The newly unveiled reforms inside San Francisco’s Democratic Party were created with Ferguson’s help, who says she was motivated to participate in hopes of making the process more bearable for those reporting abuse. She says filing her own complaints with the legislature, which has its own separate reporting process for sexual misconduct, was grueling and drawn out. Investigators with the legislature’s Workplace Conduct Unit (WCU) ultimately found some of her claims credible, determining her supervisor’s “overly familiar conduct with staff” – that included the touching of another coworker and those text messages rating people’s “attractiveness” – were “inappropriate.”
Any institution is susceptible to continued misconduct, to a lack of accountability.
Ruth Ferguson
“Work in the office was just unbearable,” Ferguson told the Investigative Unit. “Any institution is susceptible to continued misconduct, to a lack of accountability.”
Ferguson eventually quit her job with the legislature, but not before the person she accused of wrongdoing lodged his own complaint to the state against her, accusing Ferguson of some of the very same misconduct, including commenting at work on people’s attractiveness. State investigators did find those claims to be credible, though Ferguson adamantly denies ever saying such things. She says her experience and concerns about retaliation aren’t unique, and show a desperate need for a new level of accountability that puts an end to dirty politics.
“I feel hopeful that there are many people in politics right now in San Francisco who understand that this issue is not only critical, but pervasive in San Francisco,” Ferguson said. “I want to make it better.”
Contact The Investigative Unit
submit tips | 1-888-996-TIPS | e-mail Bigad
Follow @BigadShaban on social media
