Kirsten Gillibrand talks about getting ahead in politics

There were quite a few politicians mixing with the venture capitalists and tech titans, here.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) shared the stage at a Thursday morning session with California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris in which both told of battling stereotypes and the old boy network to get ahead in politics.

Gillibrand is pushing a bill that would make sexual assault in the military a crime handled by military prosecutors rather than decided by an officer.

Harris, meanwhile, defended her controversial stance to go after parents who allow kids to go truant from school.

The state prosecutor said her intention was not to start prosecuting parents — but to take steps to keep their kids in school.

Data on homicide victims under the age of 25 reveal that 94 percent of them were high school dropouts, she said.

“I was not going to start prosecuting parents for truancy,” she noted, but the move by her office got attention.

“The most cost-effective way to address a problem is prevention … I am not soft on crime or tough on crime. I am smart on crime.”

Harris also said she would like to change the name “revenge porn” — where someone releases a sex tape of someone with whom he or she had a former relationship.

A clearer more precise name for that action is “cyber exploitation,” Harris said.