We must take action to prevent and end sexual harassment

We are disappointed and disgusted to hear multiple, detailed reports of ongoing sexual harassment at the National Abortion Federation and the Hotline Fund (as outlined in Rewire.News).Everyone deserves to be able to work in a safe environment free of discrimination and harassment. Reproductive rights organizations and progressive spaces must be the leaders in the fight against harassment -- and too often they fall short. It's critical that all organizations ensure that their employees feel safe at work by taking all complaints seriously, creating policies with clear reporting systems, paying workers a living wage, outlining fair hiring and firing practices, and building mechanisms for holding management accountable for addressing discrimination and harassment in all forms.That is why DCAF also supports the organizing effort of NAF workers to unionize and get a seat at the table in the decision-making process. This is particularly critical for those workers who are in direct contact with clients on the NAF Hotline and reportedly are more likely to be people of color, women, and identify as LGBTQ. Neglecting the needs of case managers comes at a significant cost to the clients who call, the case managers, their colleagues, and the reproductive rights movement as a whole -- in the forms of harmed mental and physical health and high turnover and burnout.We encourage all organizations to take action to prevent and end sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as discrimination and harassment of all kinds.