The European Parliament has been accused of covering up rape claims after staff said complaints about being attacked had been ignored.
Four women who described themselves as parliamentary workers have claimed they lodged complaints with their superiors over alleged sexual violence – including two cases of rape by colleagues.
But one, who claims she was raped by another member of staff in 2016, said she was ‘actively discouraged from going to the police’.
The revelations emerged as MEPs in Strasbourg debated ways to put an end to all forms of sexual harassment with some even sharing their own experiences. It also comes amid the continued fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandal in Hollywood.
MEPs in Strasbourg have debated ways to put an end to all forms of sexual harassment with some even sharing their own experiences
European Parliament member Terry Reintke (C) holds a placard with the hashtag ‘MeToo’ during a debate to discuss preventive measures against sexual harassment today
According to Politico, one of the women who claimed to have lodged a complaint with senior parliament officials, said she did not know what the formal procedures were for reporting sexual assault.
She said there was a ‘culture of silence’ in a work environment where problems were kept in-house.
Top Parliament staff and up to five MEPs were aware of her case, she said. Her attacker left his job after the alleged attack but she claimed that she had still not received any extra support a year on.
Today, a spokeswoman for the European Parliament said ‘cases of rape or sexual harassment have been reported’ and there have been ‘sanctions and disciplinary measures taken’.
Swedish MEP Linnea Engstrom takes a photo with a placard placed on her desk that reads ‘Me too’ during a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg
The European Commission, the EU’s vast executive arm of roughly 32,000 employees, said it upheld ‘zero tolerance for all sorts of inappropriate behaviour’
Irish MEP Nessa Childers sits behind a sign saying #MeToo as members debated sexual harassment today
A spokeswoman for the European Parliament said ‘cases of rape or sexual harassment have been reported’ and there have been ‘sanctions and disciplinary measures taken’. The European Parliament building in Strasbourg is pictured above
But these did not involve MEPs or their assistants, she said, adding that she could not say more for ‘reasons of confidentiality’.
The European Commission, the EU’s vast executive arm of roughly 32,000 employees, said it upheld ‘zero tolerance for all sorts of inappropriate behaviour.’
‘We have very strict rules in place, which oblige colleagues to behave with propriety and not behave inappropriately in any way,’ commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein, said in a press conference.
MEPs, who are due to vote on a resolution on the subject on Thursday, today debated ways to put an end to all forms of sexual harassment with some even sharing their own experiences.
‘I was 19-years-old at university, he was a like-minded professor about 70-years-old, an intellectual comrade,’ said Italian MEP Eleonora Forenza of the radical left GUE party.
Another MEP, Terry Reintke of the Greens party, said ‘me too, I have been sexually harassed just like millions of other women in the European Union.’
‘I think it is about time that we very clearly say that we should not be ashamed but that the perpetrators should be ashamed,’ she added.