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From YouTube: Councilwoman Reynolds Brown on Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training 2-13-2018
Description
From the Hearing of the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Law and Government held Tuesday, February 13, 2018:
Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown (At Large) delivers opening remarks before a hearing on her Bill No. 170716,
An Ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of the proposal set forth in a Resolution approved by Council proposing an amendment to The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter relating to the operating budget and providing for a mandatory minimum annual appropriation to the Police Advisory Commission or any successor body or bodies; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election; all under certain terms and conditions.
A
A
First
I
need
to
say
thank
you
to
everyone
in
attendance.
They
have
stepped
away
from
your
busy
lives
to
join
us
at
this
hearing
where
a
number
of
important
bills
will
be
measured.
I
would
also
be
very
remiss
not
to
offer
a
special
thank
you
to
all
of
the
women
of
City
Council.
Why
I
am
the
lead
on
this
effort?
A
It
happened
because
of
the
collective
thoughts
from
Councilwoman
bass,
Blackwell,
Jim,
Parker
and
cano
Nez
Sanchez,
who
a
co-sponsor
of
this
important,
unprecedented
legislation
I
also
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
mayor's
office
staff
and
policy
team
and
the
mayor's
commission
for
women
and
my
staff
for
the
valuable
input
my
staff
and
members
of
the
administration
were
on
the
phone
up
until
8:00
p.m.
last
night,
where
we
wanted
to
figure
out
how
we
can
do
this.
A
This
is
my
principle
philosophy,
be
it
a
parent
to
a
child,
an
employer
to
an
employee,
a
team
coach
to
a
teammate.
You
cannot
hold
people
responsible
for
that
which
they
do
not
know.
You
cannot
hold
people
responsible
for
that
which
they
do
not
know.
Chairman
Greenlee,
please
note
that
a
copy
of
the
amendments
to
resolution
one
seven
one
one
three
four
was
circulated
to
all
the
members
of
the
committee
here-
are
the
facts.
Sexual
harassment
in
the
workplace
is
a
widespread
intergenerational
and
complex
epidemic.
A
33
million
American
women
were
sexually
harassed
at
work
in
2017,
33
million
14
million
million
were
sexually
abused
at
work.
To
make
matters
worse
out
of
these
millions
of
women
who
have
experienced
unwanted
sexual
advances
in
the
workplace,
95
percent
report
that
male
harasses
never
received
consequences.
These
numbers
are
simply
unacceptable
and
parenthetically.
If
we
look
to
see
what's
happening
in
DC,
we
can
understand
that
enforcing
mandatory
training
for
sexual
harassment
is
a
concrete,
tangible
step
in
the
right
direction.
Training
is
intended
to
educate,
enlighten
and
inform
employees
on
these
civility
and
appropriate
behaviors.
A
A
A
Amendment
has
been
circulated
to
all
the
members
of
the
committee
that
streamlines
the
process
for
creating
rules
for
sexual
harassment.
Training
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
administration
for
working
with
us
to
ensure
that
we
have
regular
mandatory
sexual
harassment,
training
that
will
soon
be
a
reality
not
just
for
supervisors,
but
for
every
single
city,
employee
in
Philadelphia
city
government.
A
Further
I
look
forward
to
working
with
the
administration
as
we
move
to
ensure
that
training
occurs
and
the
most
effective
best
practice
manner
possible
to
eliminate
ultimately,
this
type
of
behavior
in
the
halls
of
government.
In
closing,
the
fact
of
the
matter
is
this:
women
across
the
country
are
right.
The
time
is
up
together.
A
We
can
work
towards
a
world
of
workplaces
where
more
people
hashtag,
believe
women,
where
perpetrators
of
harassment
are
indeed
prosecuted
with
due
process
and,
most
importantly,
where
less
women
have
to
live
in
fear
of
being
harassed
when
they
walk
into
their
workplace
every
day.
For
these
reasons,
and
on
behalf
of
all
of
the
women
are
so
his
City
Council
and
with
the
support
of
collective
support,
we
thank
you.
Everyone
who
joined
us
in
crafting
this
legislation
and
again
I
say
that
this
has
truly
been
a
team
effort.
Thank
You
mr.
chairman
Thank,
You
Councilwoman,.