Leaders must tell men in their parties sexual misconduct has to stop: Ambrose
OTTAWA — Federal political party leaders must relay a message — particularly to men — that sexual misconduct will not be tolerated, says former interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose.
Leadership requires letting members of an organization know where the boss stands personally while clear sexual harassment policies must be disseminated to the ranks with guidance on how to use them, she added.
“Say to the men in your party, ‘Look, I know I am not speaking to all of you, but if there’s any kind of this behaviour it has to stop and if we found out there is some of it, it is going to come out and we are going to deal with it,’” Ambrose said in an interview.
Ambrose’s comments follow a Canadian Press survey of female MPs in which more than half of respondents — 58 per cent — reported they had personally been the target of one or more forms of sexual misconduct while in office, including inappropriate or unwanted remarks, gestures or text messages of a sexual nature.