An investigation has revealed that the European Parliament is a “hotbed of sexual harassment”, where senior MEPs who “feel they can do whatever they want” prey on young women.
The Sunday Times reports speaking to over a dozen junior staffers — professional, multilingual women, some graduates of the College of Europe which trains people to work for the EU’s standing bureaucracy — who suffered the unwanted attentions of older, often married European politicians.
Some of the allegations levelled are very serious, with at least one MEP accused of masturbating in front of a young aide.
One woman described how a prominent MEP — almost 60, with a wife and two children — cornered her in a lift, where he began touching her and whispering lewd remarks.
“He was stroking my hair, then my neck, going down my back … I just froze, I was petrified,” she said.
“I told my colleague, who said I should report him, but in the end I didn’t … I was afraid of losing my job, of facing the embarrassment and ruining my career.”
This was a common theme among the alleged victims, who all asked to remain anonymous, and for their alleged abusers to remain nameless too — fearing retaliation.
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