Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday all State Department employees will be required to take sexual harassment training by June 1.
“It’s not OK if you’re seeing it happening and just look away. You must do something. You must notify someone. You must step in and intervene,” Tillerson told U.S. Embassy staff in Cairo.
Tillerson said he could not think of a type of treatment that is more demeaning than sexual harassment, Reuters reported.
{mosads}Tillerson is on a tour of the Middle East, where he is also scheduled to visit Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
Tillerson’s comments come roughly a week after the House passed landmark legislation to overhaul sexual harassment policies in Congress. That bill, if passed in the Senate, would alter counseling requirements and require members of Congress to pay for their own sexual harassment settlements.
Also last week, two White House staffers resigned while denying allegations of domestic abuse.
The political world has been rocked in recent months by a series of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) and others have announced in recent months their retirement or resignation in the face of accusations of misconduct.
More than a dozen women have accused President Trump of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. Several Democratic senators late last year called for hearings on the allegations.