Nia-Malika Henderson: Congress has a male predator problem. Here’s how to fix it

The House Ethics Committee wants to try to create a culture of disclosure and transparency in Washington, a place where secrecy, fear and power have long been the order of the day. A week after two representatives, California’s Eric Swalwell and Texas’ Tony Gonzales, resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct, Congress is taking a small, necessary and long overdue step to try to break the cycle of abuse and the silence that feeds it. The committee is being proactive and strongly encouraging “anyone who may have experienced sexual misconduct by a House Member or staffer, or who has knowledge of such conduct,” to get in contact.

This comes after several members suggested there were long-standing rumors about some of Swalwell’s behavior.

For a committee often regarded as toothless, it’s a good start. But it’s not enough to deal with a system that is too slow in dealing with allegations of abuse and misconduct.

What would help is more women in positions of real power on Capitol Hill. Following the #MeToo upheavals of 2016 and 2017, a 2018 survey by Pew Research found that women in majority-male workplaces were 17 percentage points more likely to say sexual harassment was a problem than women in majority-female workplaces. The same year, a McKinsey/Lean In report found that the only woman on a team is twice as likely to be harassed as a woman on a team with multiple women. And an academic paper out of Denmark, published in 2023, found gender-balanced workplaces tend to have the lowest rates of harassment.

Congress is far from there. Although women in Congress have reached record numbers, making up about 28% of lawmakers, a 44% increase over a decade ago, that’s still well below the 51% overall share of the U.S. population older than 25.

And elected officials are only part of the power structure. Power is also vested in the aides, chiefs of staff and others who keep Congress working. With increased representation in Congress, studies show that women also increase their ranks in the upper echelons of congressional staffs.

Women in Congress have not only been instrumental in pressuring the Department of Justice to release files pertaining to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein but in holding their own colleagues accountable. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernandez and Anna Paulina Luna led the push to oust Swalwell and Gonzales. A woman-led push is also underway to oust Florida Rep. Cory Mills, who faced domestic abuse allegations in February 2025, which he denies.

For his part, Speaker Mike Johnson skirted a question on whether he backed Mills’ re-election campaign, telling reporters that the Florida congressman deserves “due process.” But congressional women see a familiar pattern of the swamp protecting its own.

According to an April report by the National Women’s Defense League , at least 53 sexual harassment accusations against at least 30 members of Congress have been made since 2006. The group estimates that the actual number of accusations is some three times higher, as such incidents often go unreported out of fear. Some 77% of the accusations involve staffers, who often work in close proximity with bosses who hold an inordinate amount of power over the career advancement of staffers with limited institutional protection.

“Let’s be clear: The #MeToo movement didn’t go away,” said Sarah Higginbotham, co-founder and co-director of the National Women’s Defense League said in a press release. “But every accusation in these reports shows that the burden of coming forward, holding the powerful accountable, and demanding policies that will prevent sexual harassment and abuse still falls on survivors. It’s high time elected leaders of both parties come out of the whisper networks to show actual leadership and do their part.”

Women in Congress will continue to lead the charge for necessary reform, even as it’s clear that simply having women in positions of power is no cure-all against misconduct – Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned on Monday amid allegations of misconduct and creating a culture of harassment.

But there is evidence – this time from a 2025 study from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana – that women are, on average, less likely than men to react to harassment accusations with indifference. Strong organizational norms against harassment can prevent it, but someone needs to create that culture.

There won’t be an easy fix to a problem that stems from a longstanding gender disparity. And harassment is a problem that extends far beyond the nation’s Capitol. The House Ethics Committee is right to put out a call for women to speak out, but it’s not enough.

Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former senior political reporter for CNN and the Washington Post, she has covered politics and campaigns for almost two decades.