Primary debates haven’t asked candidates about sexual harassment policies in over 20 years: report

Presidential primary debate moderators haven’t asked candidates about policies to address sexual harassment in at least 20 years, according to an analysis by Time’s Up released Tuesday.

After analyzing the transcripts of the 123 Democratic and Republican primary debates between 1996 and 2016, the group — which focuses on combating sexual harassment in the workplace — wrote that only eight of the more than 4,000 questions asked “directly addressed sexual harassment, child care, equal pay, or paid leave.”{mosads}

Zero questions asked candidates about policies to combat sexual harassment, the analysis found.

Six of the eight questions came from female moderators, Time’s Up found, emphasizing “just how important it is for women to serve as debate moderators.”

“In addition to lacking diversity, moderators have left crucial issues that matter to women out of the conversation,” the analysis reads.

“No longer can moderators let candidates get by without addressing these cross-cutting issues in presidential debates,” the group wrote.

81% of voters see sexual harassment in the workplace as a serious problem. It’s unacceptable that NOT ONE question on sexual harassment policy was asked in 123 primary debates from 1996-2016.

Read our new report: https://t.co/9fARWlvaO9 #TIMESUP2020 #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/ILCJY87W09

— TIME’S UP (@TIMESUPNOW) June 25, 2019 

During the upcoming debates, Time’s Up said moderators should ask candidates if they “think we’ve gone far enough to address sexual harassment” and how they might work with employers to help close the pay gap for women.

The group also pushed for moderators to ask candidates about mandatory paid family and medical leave and how they’ll ensure safe and affordable child care for families.

The first round of Democratic debates will take place this week in Miami, with 10 candidates taking the stage Wednesday and 10 others facing off Thursday.

NBC will host the forums, which will air across NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. Five news anchors, including female journalists Savannah Guthrie and Rachel Maddow, will moderate the two-night event.

While the network had not announced the debate topics as of Tuesday morning, some topics that could come up include President Trump, health care, immigration and gun control.