Online abuse forcing women out of politics
Campaigners say parties fail to tackle the problem
WOMEN are leaving politics or refusing to enter political life over the rise in online abuse targeted at them, it has been claimed.
Claire Mcging, from the National Women’s Council of Ireland, said females are deciding to drop out of politics while others are being put off running in elections because of the gendered social media abuse.
A NWC report also found that political parties in Ireland don’t do enough to support their political members who are subjected to abuse.
The Council published a social media toolkit for parties to tackle violence against women in politics, and has called for parties to take action to support female members.
The toolkit, developed by Valesca Lima and Ms Mcging, was developed following a survey of political parties on how they deal with online abuse.
Ms Mcging yesterday told a conference that there is “ample global research” to show that sexist attitudes and gender-based violence against women political candidates and politicians remain a “key barrier” to the achievements of gender equality in political systems.
She said: “We do know from research that when women experienced this, it tends to be gendered and sexist in its context and in its content and in the effect that it has.
“In addition to the emotional and professional consequences that that online abuse has, women may decide to drop out of politics and other women, if they see that is what elected women are experiencing, they may just decide it’s not worth running for election at all.”
Data scientist Dr Ian Richardson found that between September 2020 and September 2021, women councillors received eight times more abuse online than their male counterparts.
Research also shows that women in the Seanad face three times more abuse compared to men.
Ms Mcging added: “Given that local governments and also the Seanad are key pipelines into Dail Eireann, there is a real concern, and I would say there’s some evidence already around what women are saying, that they will not run for the Dáil on the basis of what they are experiencing.
“I have had a number of women councillors confidentially telling me they will not run again in 2024 as a result of what they’re experiencing.”