Female Dem lawmaker: Women have some responsibility for preventing sexual harassment

A Democratic congresswoman from Texas in a recent interview said she thinks women also have a responsibility to ward off sexual assault and harassment.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) made the comments during an interview with NBC DFW about disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.

“I grew up in a time when it was as much the woman’s responsibility as it was a man’s — how you were dressed, what your behavior was,” Johnson told the news outlet.

“I’m from the old school that you can have behaviors that appear to be inviting. It can be interpreted as such. That’s the responsibility, I think, of the female. I think that males have a responsibility to be professional themselves.”

{mosads}Johnson’s comments come after The New York Times and The New Yorker both revealed allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Weinstein.

The network said it asked Johnson if the conversation about sexual harassment and assault should include how women dress.

“I think we also need to start talking about the power that women have to control the situation. There’s law enforcement, you can refuse to cooperate with that kind of behavior. I think that many times, men get away with this because they are allowed to get away with it by the women,” Johnson said. 

Multiple Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have sought to distance themselves from Weinstein, who over the years has been a prominent donor for Democrats.