An Alarming Number Of Congress Members Have Been Accused Of Sexual Misconduct — But ‘The Reality Is Much Worse’

Earlier this month, Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) resigned from the House on the same day following separate allegations of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment to assault and rape. New data from the National Women’s Defense League shows just how widespread sexual misconduct in Congress really is — and how resignations are often used to thwart accountability.

NWDL, a national nonprofit group working against sexual misconduct in politics, on Tuesday released its first-ever comprehensive report on sexual misconduct in Congress. In the last 20 years, 49 members of Congress have been publicly accused of some form of sexual misconduct both inside and outside of the workplace, totaling 133 accusations, according to NWDL. Of those, 30 members were accused of workplace sexual harassment, totaling 53 accusations.

Sexual misconduct in Congress is an issue on both sides of the aisle. Among the congressional members accused, 60% are Republicans and 40% are Democrats — and nearly all of them were men.

NWDL also released its annual report of sexual misconduct in state-level politics. Since 2013, 162 state officials have been publicly accused of 424 incidents of sexual misconduct. The party breakdown among accused state-level lawmakers is about the same as the federal level — 52% are Republican and 48% are Democrat.