The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
‘Don’t just feel appalled – act’
A NORTH East police boss has demanded “real action” to combat sexism, amid outrage over accusations that Labour’s Angela Rayner tries to distract Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs.
Claims made by anonymous Tory MPS and reported in the Mail on Sunday about the deputy leader of the Opposition have sparked widespread condemnation this week.
Kim Mcguinness, the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), has now spoken out about the misogyny she has faced as a woman in politics and has called on men to “take responsibility”.
The Labour PCC was described shortly after her election in 2019 as a “Barbie doll” by one of her opponents and has been angered by a “real focus” on whether or not she will have children.
Ms Mcguinness, formerly a councillor in Newcastle, was “not surprised” by the claims about Ms Rayner by some fellow MPS, but says such attitudes are “not exclusive to politics”.
The PCC said: “There will not be a woman out there who hasn’t got out of bed in the morning and thought, ‘If I wear that today what will be the reaction? If I change my hair will it be all about that rather than my performance at work? Will I be harassed today?.’”
She added: “There is often a real focus on whether or not I will have children. It feels like it is everyone’s business, but it is nobody’s business.
“I consider every day how I present myself and what I wear and how that will affect how I am listened to and treated. Then there is some of the more overt discrimination, people saying things that are openly sexist and personal things rather than actually speaking about the job that I do.
Ms Mcguinness told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that women wanting to enter politics today have to decide that they are OK with being subjected to sexist abuse online and has called for action now to ensure the next generation are not forced to put up with the same hate.
She said: “What we need is to get to a point where men are taking it seriously and take on the mantle of being a solution, rather than just being shocked and appalled. We need to move to them actually doing something about it. Men need to take responsibility.
“Actually I think the uproar about this [the Mail on Sunday article] is positive. People are saying in large numbers that it is not acceptable and that there is no place for it in our society. But it has to translate into real action.”