Supervisors call for hearing to review handling of sexual assault and harassment complaints, seek accountability from city offices

Supervisor Catherine Ronan said on April 16 that she is requesting a Board hearing to examine how San Francisco city departments respond to allegations of sexual assault and harassment and to assess whether the city’s mechanisms for survivors are working.

Ronan said she read a news article that morning describing new allegations and that she immediately reached out to female colleagues to arrange a hearing. She recalled that after hearings in 2018 — which led to creation of the Office of Sexual Assault and Harassment Response — survivors testified for more than an hour and the board established that office to receive complaints and recommend policy changes. Ronan said six years later she is not confident the office is fulfilling its intended work and asked the Human Rights Commission director to report on complaint volumes and outcomes, outreach and uptake, and any policy recommendations the office has made since its creation.

She framed the hearing as part of a broader effort to ensure survivors “have meaningful avenues for justice” and to review how the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney’s Office engage with survivors after reports are filed. Ronan asked for clarity about how many complaints the office receives, how many are resolved, the nature of outreach to survivors, and what follow-up occurs after complaints are filed.

Multiple supervisors — including Chan, Melgar, and Stephanie — joined Ronan in expressing urgency. The board took the request as new business; no formal vote or subpoena was recorded during the meeting. Ronan said the hearing aims to identify gaps and produce policy recommendations to improve departmental responses to sexual assault and harassment allegations.