A gender equity group is urging ‘strict and specific’ sexual misconduct reform for the federal workforce

A federal employee group focused on improving gender equity at the Justice Department this month urged the White House to issue new executive action mandating action against sexual misconduct in the federal workforce, following a string of scandals across multiple agencies that made headlines this summer.

In a nine-page letter to White House Gender Policy Council Chairwoman Jennifer Klein and acting Office of Personnel Management Director Rob Shriver, the Department of Justice Gender Equality Network, a federal employee association composed of nearly 2,000 Justice Department staffers argued that both existing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations and President Biden’s 2021 executive order advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal workforce have failed to adequately root out sexual misconduct—an umbrella term referring to sexual harassment, sexual assault and other gender-based violence.

“Although the administration issued an executive order in 2021 advising agency heads to develop a ‘comprehensive framework to address workplace harassment, including sexual harassment,’ it did not mandate specific steps that agencies must take to create such a framework, and few if any agencies have made meaningful reforms since then,” the group wrote. “This administration should impose strict and specific compliance standards by taking a more targeted approach. Through a mechanism such as an executive order or an OPM regulation, the administration can require agencies to thoroughly evaluate the systems have in place, assess whether they meet the standards discussed below . . . and report their findings within an established timeframe to OPM and the White House.”

The organization’s proposal comes amid recent sexual harassment scandals at the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation and within the U.S. Coast Guard. And last month, the Justice Department itself saw two more scandals, within the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska; indeed, during the letter’s roundup of recently reported incidents of sexual harassment in the federal workforce, footnotes citing those reports threaten to engulf the page.

Ideally, the effort would be centralized in the White House with OPM support. Agency-specific efforts would also require additional staffing to collect and investigate complaints.

“There is no question that overhauling response systems can be an intensive undertaking, and doing it properly requires significant time and resources,” the letter states. “Successful systems can take years to develop and stand up, and may require additional personnel. But effectively responding to sexual misconduct should be viewed as an imperative to protect federal employees’ health and safety, and to maintain the public’s trust in our national institutions.”

But some agencies, including the Justice Department, have already gone through the process, and can serve as a governmentwide model. The Justice Department’s own sexual misconduct response system, developed in consultation with DOJGEN leaders, was implemented last year.

“Agencies such as DOJ, [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], USAID, and the Peace Corps have sexual misconduct response systems that operate separately from EEO offices and can serve as models,” the group wrote. “There are widely accepted best practices and valuable federal resources, including guidance and reports that analyze the problem and propose solutions. There are also leaders in the fields of gender-based violence, victim advocacy, sexual harassment law and law enforcement within the federal government (including many at DOJ) who can help design an administrative mandate and assist agencies in fulfilling it.”

The letter also spells out a number of best practices to inform the creation of these new misconduct response systems, including the need to be survivor-centered, ensuring proper training for employees both within the system and across the workforce, the creation of safety plans to implement upon receiving a complaint of harassment or misconduct, and the need for complaint takers and investigators to exist outside of a victim’s chain of command. Additionally, the effort should both be data driven and transparent, including the deployment of regular climate surveys to measure an agency’s progress and the publication of those surveys and other data to boost employee and public confidence.

“Employees will not have the confidence necessary to report sexual misconduct unless they believe their agency cares about their wellbeing and will protect them,” the letter argues. “Just as the U.S. military does, agencies can and should provide these assurances by publicizing aggregate, annual data on how they responded to reports of sexual misconduct in their workforce, including the number of reports received, safety plans implemented and investigations initiated.”