SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers in the state Assembly shield “rapists” in the Capitol through a sexual harassment policy that protects the guilty and allows records of investigations to be discarded well before accused lawmakers leave office, an Assembly committee was told Tuesday.

Those shortcomings were highlighted at the first public hearing in the Assembly in which lawmakers discussed their policies and heard from women who in recent weeks have spoken up about sexual misconduct by lawmakers and men who work in and around the Capitol. Women who have experienced sexual harassment and assault testified at the committee, describing the helplessness they felt at the hands of powerful men who abused their authority.

“What everybody here knows is that we have rapists in this building,” said Christine Pelosi, chair of the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus and a board member of We Said Enough, a newly formed nonprofit that launched a campaign to raise awareness about harassment and abuse in the state Capitol.

“We have molesters among us,” Pelosi, the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, told the committee. “We find out through the whisper network. People do tell. People do talk. They just don’t come forward.”

And they don’t come forward because they don’t trust the Legislature’s system for handing complaints, which largely relies on the body to police itself, the committee was told. Lawmakers asked a panel of victims, Capitol insiders and victims rights attorneys for their ideas on how to craft a more responsive policy, from whistle-blower protections for legislative employees, confidential hotlines to report abuses and an end to nondisclosure agreements that bar employees from going public with their allegations.

The Assembly will conduct additional hearings into sexual harassment in January. The Senate has not scheduled a hearing to review its own policies. Both houses have rules committees led by lawmakers who oversee the Senate and Assembly’s human resources departments.

The Assembly Rules Committee chair, Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova (Sacramento County), said the Assembly’s existing sexual harassment policy, adopted in 1993, is dense and difficult to read, but that it exceeds state and federal requirements. Cooley said the policy covers not just staff and lawmakers, but also interns, volunteers, lobbyists and “anyone in the building who we are having contact with.”

“The issue is how this works in practice,” Cooley said.

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Assembly Chief Administrative Officer Debra Gravert said the Assembly has had eight investigations over the past six years, but she said she did not know if any of those were against lawmakers. Gravert said the Assembly doesn’t track the overall number or types of complaints it receives. Gravert initially testified that she has not received any sexual harassment complaints against a lawmaker in her 3½ years at the helm. After lawmakers questioned her further, however, she later said she has received a “handful” of complaints in the past one to two weeks against current lawmakers.

Gravert apologized at the end of the five-hour hearing, saying she misspoke. Gravert also apologized for initially testifying that the Assembly does not retain records beyond six years. She clarified later that “we keep records beyond that time” even though the policy allows for discarding after six years.

“These inconsistencies are not surprising,” Samantha Corbin, a lobbyist who testified on behalf of the We Said Enough campaign. “They are demonstrative of the need for transparency, clear processes, data collection and retention, and public accountability. Victims can have no confidence — and no justice — in a system that does not even do their trauma the respect of basic reporting and accountability.”

The hearing came a day after Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles County), who served as majority whip until last week, announced his immediate resignation following several allegations of sexual misconduct. Also on Monday, a Senate committee voted to strip Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), of his chairmanship on the Insurance, Banking and Financial Institutions Committee until an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him is completed.

One of Mendoza’s accusers spoke at the hearing. Jennifer Kwart, the district director for Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, said interns are particularly vulnerable in and around the Capitol. As a 19-year-old intern in 2008 in Mendoza’s district office, Kwart said she was asked to attend a Democratic Party convention only to find herself alone with the senator in his hotel suite, where she said he made her so uncomfortable that she made an excuse to fly home.

Kwart said she did not report Mendoza’s behavior at the time in fear that it would hurt her future job prospects. Her voice quivered at times as she testified Tuesday.

Even if she wanted to report it, Kwart said, “I would have had no idea who to tell. ... I felt very alone.”

Kwart is among three women who have publicly accused Mendoza of sexual misconduct. She said she has not been contacted by the Senate regarding its investigation.

“I’ve heard from an outpouring of women who say thank you and that they have similar stories that they want to share,” said Pamela Lopez, a partner at a lobbying firm who spoke out last month about an incident. Lopez said a lawmaker, whom she has not named, forced himself into a bathroom with her last year and masturbated in front of her. She said it wasn’t the only time she has faced harassment and assault in politics.

“I had anxiety and panic attacks for years because of the harassment and assault that I experienced in my early and mid-20s,” she said.

Before the hearing, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, said in a statement that he will push lawmakers to end taxpayer-funded payouts in sexual harassment cases and instead look for ways to have the “proven violators” pick up the tab.

“Why should taxpayers be on the hook for sexual harassment payouts, while wrongdoers walk away with no financial accountability?” McCarty said.

Last month, Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), said she plans to introduce legislation next year to ban confidential settlements stemming from sexual harassment, including those in the Legislature.

“The good news is there is hope,” said Genie Harrison, an employment and victims rights attorney who spoke at the hearing. “Other governmental agencies have changed.”

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez