Women on council being targeted by ‘date’ messages
WOMEN councillors are being targeted with “unnerving” messages asking them out on dates.
Police have been alerted to around half-a-dozen incidents involving female members of Dudley Council.
Both Labour and Conservatives councillors have recently received seemingly-harmless compliments about their work.
When they responded to the messages saying ‘thank you’ they received further messages asking them out on a date or saying how nice they were.
Council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, said officials had been made aware of the incidents.
He said: “It’s a little bit unsettling to go from being told you are doing a good job to ‘can we go out for a drink or a date’.
“It’s been reported to the chief executive and monitoring officer who have reported it to the police.
“If you are a female councillor it can be quite unnerving not knowing who the person is, if it’s a fake ID or a fake email account.
“The one comforting factor in this is that it’s not just one that’s been targeted, it’s probably half-a-dozen, so they are not being singled out individually.”
Councillors are regularly subjected to a variety of abuse and intimidation ranging from name-calling and allegations of bribery to threats of violence and racial slurs.
Shockingly it seems long-standing councillors become accustomed to abuse but for inexperienced members of the council the effects can be dramatic.
Cllr Harley said: “I’ve seen some very bright, young councillors only seek one term, the abuse people can get – I’m sure that plays a role.”
He added: “I have had threats of violence over the phone, people leaving messages. I brush it off, it’s only if it’s a direct threat where they say ‘I am coming down to see you’ that I will involve the local constabulary. I can imagine for some of our female colleagues it can be very worrying indeed.”
The horrific murders of MPs Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021 demonstrate how vulnerable politicians can be in their communities and research shows abuse is on the rise.
Last year the Local Government Association (LGA) published data showing 81 per cent of councillors said they had experienced abuse and/or intimidation in the previous 12 months.