Congress is going through its personal #MeToo second. It’s most likely not sufficient | EUROtoday

The dominoes are starting to fall in Washington, D.C., as alleged sexual abusers are being outed and faraway from energy.

Disgraced Democratic congressmen Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzales, who’re each married fathers, jumped out of Congress being being pushed out when confronted with allegations of sexual misconduct. Swalwell, 45, is accused of drugging, raping and choking a girl in her resort room in 2018, and making different undesirable sexual advances towards ladies, which he vehemently denies.

Gonzales, additionally 45, stop after he lastly admitted, following months of allegations, that he had an inappropriate relationship along with his former married staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide in September 2025. He mentioned he had “absolutely nothing to do” together with her dying. Another lady got here ahead final week, alleging he bombarded her with “hundreds” of sexually express textual content messages.

This may be the largest second of reckoning for Washington for the reason that peak of the #MeToo motion in 2017 – if Americans don’t fall again into the identical traps and permit the open secret to remain hidden within the halls of Congress.

Women, notably those that are simply beginning out of their political careers, have been hesitant previously to talk out in opposition to highly effective elected officers who commit assault and abuse. It is notoriously tough for any survivors of abuse to return ahead, not to mention victims of in style public figures.

But now that silence might be damaged with the most recent allegations and resignations and requires extra.

New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez spoke of the “punitive culture” of D.C. that “silences people” from talking out. Former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene mentioned she believed the alleged conduct of Swalwell and Gonzales is “prevalent” all through Congress.

“Congress is still a cesspool,” Greene mentioned in a put up on X this week. “I think there’s more members of Congress that are guilty of things similar to Congressman Swalwell and Congressman Gonzales, and we just haven’t seen them, basically, get caught,” she informed CNN.

History tells us that Greene is, sadly, most likely proper. American politics is stained with intercourse scandals, from Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky to Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels.

It could be naive to imagine that the handful of lawmakers who at the moment are going through the implications are the one ones out of the 535 members in Congress. It’s not any higher in U.S. statehouses. There have additionally been at the least 147 state lawmakers throughout 44 states accused of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct since 2017, a damning report final 12 months discovered.

Democrats who have been near Swalwell professed their shock. “The man lived a double life,” mentioned Sen. Ruben Gallego. He and plenty of others, Gallego mentioned, have been “tricked into thinking he was someone he was not.”

While they might not have recognized the extent of the deeply disturbing allegations, the query now swirling is how these males have been in a position to maintain on to their positions of energy for thus lengthy when a lot of the alleged conduct was an “open secret” on Capitol Hill.

“We are supposed to be the party of not tolerating this stuff,” Arielle Fodor, one of many influencers who helped convey allegations in opposition to Swalwell to mild, informed The Washington Post. “This is a post-Epstein world and a post-#MeToo world, so you’d think we should have learned.”

“We do need to take a look inward as a party because it was an open secret,” added Cheyenne Hunt, a former Capitol Hill staffer who supported ladies to return ahead in Swalwell’s case. “Not necessarily that he was assaulting people but that he was a creep,” she mentioned. “That was well known.”

Campaigners hope that Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, accused of home violence, might be subsequent, however for now, he’s “on solid footing,” in line with Politico. He denies wrongdoing.

Even within the post-#MeToo world, the place public figures in different international locations are being held accountable for his or her ties to the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, within the U.S., it feels as if little progress has been made for the reason that motion started in 2017. That motion helped convey down highly effective figures accused of previous assault, however America was slammed by the pandemic years later and the motion misplaced its momentum.

Just final month, the House blocked a proposal from GOP Rep. Nancy Mace that might have made data from congressional sexual misconduct and harassment investigations public. Gonzales was one of many members who voted to reject it.

The day the place any sufferer can stroll freely with out concern of sexual assault – or really feel the energy to report it – nonetheless appears very far-off.

“Accountability cannot be selective,” mentioned Fatima Goss Graves, CEO and president of the National Women’s Law Center. “A jury has found our sitting president liable for sexual assault, and multiple members of his administration have faced credible allegations of abuse or enabling it.”

“All women have the right to be free from sexual violence,” added Graves, “regardless of who their boss is.”

Rainn presents help for these affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can name Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)