At 32 years of age, Hill is the first millennial member of Congress to have a political career tarnished after the publication of nude photos.
“I am leaving because of a misogynist culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalised on my sexuality and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching,” she said in her resignation speech.
Both the Daily Mail and conservative website RedState published nude photos of Hill that indicated she had been in a consensual sexual relationship with a female campaign staffer. Hill has since acknowledged and apologised for the relationship as it violates House ethics rules.
In her resignation letter posted to Twitter on Sunday, Hill vowed to fight against the cyber exploitation of women and revenge porn.
“This is what needs to happen so that the good people who supported me will no longer be subjected to the pain inflicted by my abusive husband and the brutality of hateful political operatives who seem to happily provide a platform to a monster who is driving a smear campaign built around cyber exploitation,” she wrote.
“Now, my fight is going to be to defeat this type of exploitation that so many women are victims to and which will keep countless women and girls from running for office or entering public light.”
It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country.
See my official statement below. pic.twitter.com/nG97RQIwvO
— Rep. Katie Hill (@RepKatieHill) October 27, 2019
The “double standard” Hill calls out in her speech refers to the hypocrisy of having a president who has been accused – multiple times – of sexual assault, while she has been forced to resign after becoming victim of a sex crime.
“Yet a man who brags about his sexual predation,” said Hill, “who has had dozens of women come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, who pushes policies that are uniquely harmful to women, and who has filled the courts with judges who proudly rule to deprive women of the fundamental right to control their own bodies, sits in the highest office of the land.”
In her final act as a Congresswoman, Hill joined her Democrat colleagues on Thursday to vote in support of the impeachment inquiry against the president.