This Chart Breaks Down Year-By-Year Congressional Sexual Harassment Settlements. It's Stunning.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Office Of Compliance (OOC) released a decade's worth of sexual harassment settlements and rewards broken-down year-by-year. Since 1997, a stunning $17 million has been shelled out to victims over such harassment.

The breakdown was published by the OOC due to a flood of requests, explained executive director Susan Tsui.

“[B]ased on the volume of recent inquiries regarding payment of awards and settlements reached under the CAA, I am releasing these figures beginning with Fiscal Year 1997, up to and including FY 2017,” wrote Grundmann in statement.

"A large portion of cases originate from employing offices in the legislative branch other than the House of Representatives or the Senate, and involve various statutory provisions incorporated by the CAA, such as the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act," explained the director. "The statistics on payments are not further broken down into specific claims because settlements may involve cases that allege violations of more than one of the 13 statutes incorporated by the CAA."

See the chart, below

In recent weeks, a slew of female lawmakers and Congressional staffers have come forward to claim harassment by lawmakers.

On Thursday, Los Angeles radio host Leeann Tweeden revealed that Democratic Senator Al Franken sexually harassed her multiple times and groped her while she was sleeping. Tweeden released a photo of Franken smiling for the cameras during the 2006 groping act.

The Senator has since apologized for his behavior and assured that public that he "respects" women via a public statement.