Mary Bono on Sunday took responsibility for “my silence” on an experience of sexual harassment while serving in Congress, calling her reticence “part of the problem.”
During a panel discussion about sexual harassment on ABC News’ “This Week,” the former California GOP lawmaker and widow of former congressman and singer Sonny Bono said she was “on the receiving end of inappropriate comments on the floor of the House of Representatives that I needed to just, you know, say to my colleague, ‘that's not cool. Knock it off.’
“It took awhile for me to find my voice in order say that,” she said.
The issue is not “just about the men,” Bono said.
“Women, too, have to step up,” she said. “Because I actually realized that my silence was part of the problem, too, on the Hill. So, it's not just the men, we all have to step in and change this now and truly make it a watershed moment.”
Another panel member, former GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, said, however, current discussions on sexual harassment will only become “a watershed moment” if men stand with women.
“It will only be watershed moment if men decide to step forward. Women have been stepping forward… for a really long time,” she said. “What needs to happen now is the guys need to man up.”
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