INDIANAPOLIS — The City of Indianapolis will soon have a standard sexual harassment training policy.
A proposal to require top officials to undergo sexual harassment training passed the Indianapolis City-County Council, 22-0.
The proposal was introduced last month by City-County Councilor Michael McQuillen, R-District 4. It will mandate all city and county elected officials, councilors and supervisory-level employees to attend a sexual harassment awareness and prevention training program.
“Indianapolis kind of has a patchwork [policy],” McQuillen said last month. “Some departments have things they do, some don’t. The sheriff’s department, for example, has a plan, and some city departments. But I thought it was a good idea to have a standard for the city and county – Indianapolis and Marion County – just so we have expectations in place on what’s appropriate and what’s not.”
Supervisory-level employees are defined as “all city and county department heads, directors, and supervisors.”
But why shouldn’t simply every city or county employee be required to undergo this training?
McQuillen said eventually, all city or county employees will be required to undergo the training.
There has been a lot of national and state media attention on the #MeToo movement. Victims of sexual harassment or abuse have felt more empowered to speak up and report what’s happened.
It was also on McQuillen’s mind when he filed the proposal.
“Unfortunately, so many times, cities and municipalities are driven by what’s going on in current events and around the country,” he said. “I think there’s been a lot more focus on this issue lately. There was no reason to wait any longer, now is the time to strike.”
