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Male Democratic Gubernatorial Lineup Addresses Women's Issues At Forum

This week an open letter citing example after example of a culture of sexual harassment against women in Springfield shook the Illinois State Capitol.

With that context, the five men running for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor met last night for a forum in a crowded room at the University of Illinois Chicago. The fact that all the candidates are men was not lost on anyone.

At this particular gathering, the candidates didn’t have a lot of use for their typical stump speeches. The event was set up months ago, but the timing had particular importance because the theme was issues affecting women.

The candidates addressed the letter, signed by lobbyists and politicians, which cites several examples of a culture of sexual harassment against women in Springfield. The letter did not specifically name any perpetrators.

Moderator Liz Kersjes keyed up the topic: “Our next question is on the topic of sexual harassment and domestic violence.”

Kersjes is an organizer of She Votes Illinois, which aims to engage women in all aspects of politics and to ensure that issues important to women are addressed, according to its Facebook page.

A couple of questions later, Kersjes asked the candidates how a culture of sexual harassment and misogyny identified at the state capitol affects how they’d act as governor.

Each candidate applauded the women who signed the letter, acknowledging that they had put their careers, their relationships, and causes on the line.

Madison County Regional Schools Supt. Bob Daiber was up first and gave an answer nobody on stage disagreed with.

“As governor I would not tolerate it,” he said. “I would not tolerate it with my staff. I would not tolerate it in the capitol, and I wouldn’t tolerate it in this state.”

Former Merchandise Mart President Chris Kennedy specifically called out elected officials who have power and should operate with high standards.

“To have the people who were elected to protect us to be the perpetrators and to protect the people who are the perpetrators I think is something that none of us would stand for,” he said.

State Sen Daniel Biss, who has been in the legislature since 2011, said he can’t believe some of the conduct he personally has seen at the capitol -- seeing women ignored, silenced and harassed.

And Biss looked inward. “I think we all need to tell the truth and say that we’ve not done enough,” he declared. “I have not done enough.”

Venture capitalist JB Pritzker agreed with others that sexual harassment training is a “no-brainer,” but he also looked forward. He said that men need to take this moment and think about what they’ll do the next time a woman relates an experience of sexual harassment.

“We need to say loudly, ‘I believe you,’ because I don’t think that’s happened often enough,” he said.

Tio Hardiman, the former leader of the anti-violence group Ceasefire, used his time to emphasize that women are underpaid compared to men. Everyone else on stage later agreed with that idea.

Then Hardiman was asked a question specific to him: “We grappled with whether to bring it up or not,” Kersjes said, “but we felt it was our responsibility as women.”

The question: Should women in Illinois trust Hardiman on issues of domestic violence and abuse?

Four years ago, Hardiman was charged with domestic battery against his wife; she later dropped the case. Hardiman said he expected the question.

“I had an incident with my wife that wasn’t really about my wife,” he said. “It was one of our step-children had the incident, but my wife got mad at me -- I’ll just tell you the truth here -- and she went to the police.”

Kerjses brought up a question she said came from the concerns of younger women.

“Our third question tonight is on an issue that’s starting to be talked about a little bit more but is new, actually even to me,” she said.

That question was: Should the legal definition of rape or sexual assault include what’s called stealthing -- when a man intentionally removes his condom without telling his sexual partner.

Kerjses said the issue came from concerns of younger women, and that stealthing is happening more often.

Some of the candidates said they weren’t familiar with stealthing, but most said it potentially should be included under rape laws.

One candidate said that learning about stealthing was probably the most disturbing thing he’s heard during the campaign.