You might favor this bill if:
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You believe that a research program needs to be established examining the prevalence of and factors contributing to sexual harassment in the scientific workforce. Studies suggest 58% of women in the scientific community have been sexually harassed and this bill is the first step towards combatting this statistic.
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You might oppose this bill if:
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You believe that sexual harassment studies, even in the event of good intentions, can consequently increase the likelihood of sexual advances in the workplace because it may trigger gender biases. Some studies have suggested that sexual harassment policies can activate gender stereotypes instead of challenging them.
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The Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act would establish a research program at the National Science Foundation to examine the prevalence of and factors contributing to sexual harassment in the scientific workforce.
Furthermore, the bill would direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy to issue uniform policy guidance to Federal science agencies to ensure every agency has clear policies and dedicated resources to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual harassment at academic institutions receiving federal research funding.
This legislation also creates an interagency working group to improve coordination and communication among agencies in addressing sexual harassment by federally funded scientists.
The legislation has been endorsed by several Science organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, the American Mathematical Society, the Computing Research Association, the Consortium of Social Science Associations, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Society of Women Engineers, among others.
Other studies, such as the 2007 Social Psychology Quarterly study by Stanford University, suggest that after men learned about harassment rules, it triggered implicit gender biases, effectively making it more likely for men to stereotype women, and possibly increasing the likelihood of other sexual harassment advances.
H.R.36
Sponsored by: Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30].
Cosponsored by: 2 Rep / 25 Dem.
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