State, DHS respond to 223 women in national security field speaking out on sexual harassment
The State Department and Department of Homeland Security are responding to 223 women who have worked in the national security field who are speaking out about having been victims of sexual harassment, abuse or assault or knowing others who are victims.
A State Department spokesperson said that the department is updating its sexual harassment training in the wake of recent scandals.
"The Department has two anti-harassment policies: one prohibiting sexual or gender-based harassment, and the other prohibiting harassment based on other protected discriminatory bases of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, age, and genetic information," the spokesperson said.
The Department of Homeland Security said that it's also reviewing training and guidance "both to further reinforce its policies to employees, as well as to remind employees on how to file a harassment complaint."
Women wrote in the Nov. 28 letter that they are driven out of the national security field by men who "use their power to assault at one end of the spectrum and perpetuate -- sometimes unconsciously -- environments that silence, demean, belittle or neglect women at the other."
"This is not just a problem in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, newsrooms or Congress. It is everywhere," they wrote.
The women called on the national security community, including the Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to take certain actions to reduce sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace.
CBS News' Margaret Brennan and Andres Triay contributed to this report.