By Lauren Fox, Ellis Kim, CNN
(CNN) — When Rep. Emilia Sykes met with Democratic leaders about the pervasiveness of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, she made one thing very clear to Hakeem Jeffries: this could not just be a women’s issue.
“This could all be eliminated and we wouldn’t even be here if these members were not abusing their power, and so we need to get to the root cause,” the Ohio Democrat said. “We cannot do this alone.”
Not even 10 years on from Congress’ last attempt to reform the process for reporting sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, leaders from the Republican and Democratic Women’s Caucuses have been tasked with overhauling the process again. Two of them — Sykes and Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack — sat down exclusively with CNN to detail their goals, provide insight into a forming strategy and even acknowledge the limitations of that work.
“We have seen where this is a bipartisan problem, which is why it is requiring a bipartisan solution. And if you are a creep on Capitol Hill, we’re here to say that creeps need not apply,” Cammack said.
The congresswoman promised that “we’ll see additional repercussions for members that have acted inappropriately,” but, she added, “we want to see this stop before it ever gets to that point.”
The plan, they say, is to work quickly, a challenge in a body that is only six months out from a contentious midterm election and already struggling to pass bipartisan legislation.
They are aiming to devise a series of reforms that could move more expeditiously through the House administration committee and pass as a resolution. They also are entertaining a wide variety of options that they hope can shape the culture that has made Capitol Hill such a breeding ground for harassment.
One idea being considered, Cammack said, is new disclosure requirements for members who have ever settled sexual harassment claims or had cases brought against them.
And while it is against House rules for a members of Congress to enter into relationships with their own staff, there is no such rule barring a member of Congress from having relationships with staff from other offices. The pair argued this can blur boundaries and is ripe for abuse.
“As a matter of judgment, it’s not a great idea,” Sykes said. “It just creates so many potential issues, and I can understand folks tend to meet their spouses and their partners in their workplace, but there has to be a level of judgment and thoughtfulness so you’re not putting yourself or someone else in harm’s way.”
Currently, staffers facing harassment and seeking help can turn to a long list of entities from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to the Office of Employee Advocacy to the House Ethics Committee. But the processes of each, the lawmakers argued, are ill-defined and often not well-publicized among the staffers who may need to access them.
When allegations reach the House and Senate Ethics Committees, the lawmakers pointed out, cases can languish for months and even years before any hope of resolution.
“Today if a woman was harassed or, God forbid, assaulted, if there was a situation, she wouldn’t really know where to go. The training is woefully inadequate, and she would wonder, ‘Who do I talk to, where do I go?’” Cammack said. “On top of that, there is this real fear, and it is a credible fear of retaliation. People work so very hard to get to Capitol Hill, they work endless hours and they feel like if they report that they will be retaliated against.”
Another area ripe for reform, they argue, is training, which they say is especially inadequate for lawmakers.
For Cammack and Sykes, who represent a youn