Two parliamentarians were implicated in harassment cases, reveals the 2023-2024 annual report on activities relating to the prevention and treatment of situations of harassment at work at the National Assembly, made public on Thursday.
In total, eight people (five men, three women) were reported. The other six are part of the political or administrative staff of the National Assembly.
During the year, five reports of psychological harassment and one report of sexual harassment were received.
Two reports are still under investigation, while three others have been resolved. Only one formal complaint was filed, then withdrawn. The report says nothing about the nature of the alleged actions.
All the people who felt victims are women who are part of the political or administrative staff of the National Assembly.
The information included in the report is not nominative, which makes it impossible to identify the people involved. For reasons of confidentiality, the Assembly provides the strict minimum of information.
We know, however, that a complaint for psychological harassment targeting Liberal MP Frédéric Beauchemin was filed last December after a mediation process.
During the year, 80 files were processed. These are divided into three categories, namely requests for information or assistance (73), reports (6) and formal complaints (1).
Most requests for information or assistance were due to incivility (32) and psychological harassment (11).
For comparison, in 2019-2020, the National Assembly had to deal with 11 formal complaints of psychological harassment, plus 10 reports, including one for sexual harassment.
Furthermore, the report indicates that in 2024-2025, the 125 deputies will undergo new training in the prevention of situations of incivility, conflicts and harassment. Political staff will also be invited to follow this training.
In 2023, the Office of the National Assembly adopted a new Policy on the prevention and treatment of situations of incivility, conflicts and psychological and sexual harassment at work. This policy came into effect in January 2024.