Ex-Mayor of San Diego Bob Filner Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges in Sexual Harassment Scandal

Bob Filner has now pleaded guilty to criminal false imprisonment and battery charges in connection with his extensive and egregious (and now apparently admitted) sexual harassment of numerous City of San Diego employees. At least he is "manning up," as they say in sexist terms.

It is unfortunate for Democrats that this happened with the first Democratic mayor in San Diego in twenty years--and within nine months of him taking office. Unfortunately, when an office is this political, and there had been a lot of bipartisan animosity brewing in this office in recent years, this kind of thing, in some ways, gives all Democrats a bad rap. Some democrats have written this off as a shameless political smear campaign, but it's clear by this point that the charges are substantiated. Maybe another democrat will step up who is NOT so pervy!

Lessons from Ex-San Diego Mayor Filner's Sex Harassment Scandal - L.A. Times

Would Having More Women in Office Reduce Sexual Harassment?

Here is a great piece about local politics in San Diego and the Bob Filner sexual harassment scandal going on there. The fact that such egregious harassment could go on for so long in a political office raises a larger question about the gender dynamics in such environments. The statistics this article quotes are 19% as the number of women in Congress and 23% as the number of women in political office at the statewide level across the country (and of course 51% is the number of women in the general population). Interestingly, that number was 28% at one point but has been declining for the past 12 years.

This writer, Jamie Quient, observes: "More women at the top would help end the culture of silence that enables sexual harassment to go unreported and unaddressed." Quient also notes how difficult it can be for women to come forward about harassment "when the person harassing you controls your livelihood and can shape your professional reputation." Amen to that! I completely agree with this assessment. If there were more women in leadership positions, not only would bosses be less likely to sexually harass their subordinates, but the subordinates would also would have more superiors they felt comfortable talking to about harassment if in fact they were being harassed. Thanks to Donna Frye for her courageous act of coming forward in San Diego and to Jamie Quient for this great article.

San Diego Needs More Donna Fryes - Voice of San Diego

New Program, "Increasing Women's Political Participation and Dialogue Opportunities in Afghanistan," Aims to Increase Female Voter Turnout and Encourage Women to Run for Office in Afghanistan

The Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Asia Foundation are sponsoring this promising new political program for women in Afghanistan, and the UK is funding it. This is fantastic news, but will it actually work? I hope so.

Asia Foundation and Independent Election Commission (IEC) Launch “Increasing Women’s Political Participation and Dialogue Opportunities in Afghanistan” - The Asia Foundation

Multi-Million Dollar Program Announced to Support Afghan Women's Political Participation - Feminist Majority Foundation

Multi-Million Dollar Program Announced to Support Afghan Women's Political Participation - Ms. Magazine

Surprisingly though, about 39% of the voters in the 2010 Afghan Parliamentary election were women, and women already hold 28% of the Parliamentary seats! These stats are better than America's! To wit: Women hold about 18% of Congressional seats and 20% of Senate seats in the U.S.

Facts on Women in Congress - Rutgers University

(Takeaway: Don't believe the hype.?)