Parliaments & Representatives
British MP Jess Phillips describing the online attacks she has received from Elon Musk in recent days as “very, very, very tiring” will have struck a chord with many women. Powerful men trying to silence women happens so often that it rarely makes news.
But Musk’s comments calling Phillips, who currently serves as safeguarding minister, a “rape genocide apologist” and saying she should be in prison has brought the online abuse of women politicians, and the danger that it presents, back into sharp focus.
Never before has an overseas tech mogul (who happens to be the world’s richest man) targeted government ministers and MPs for personal abuse like this. The accusations have encouraged others to attack Phillips, posing a very real threat to her safety. Phillips has reportedly been assigned close protection officers and been told not to go out in public alone.
Read here the full article published by The Conversation on 10 January 2025.
Image by The Conversation
Some reports suggest that female politicians face such behaviour more often than their male counterparts and it has even been reported that female politicians have begun to view toxic messages and harassment as just a part of the job.
This kind of hostility can deter women from remaining in politics and discourage those who haven't run for office from considering it. Politicians, including former UK Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan and former MPs Heidi Allen and Dehenna Davison have cited abuse and harassment as factors in their decisions to step down.
Such toxic behavior could ultimately hinder women's participation in public debate and democratic engagement overall.
In a new comparative study co-authored by Professor Anne Rasmussen, of King’s College London, and Dr Gregory Eady, from the University of Copenhagen, and published in the the American Political Science Review, more light is shed on the issue of toxicity in politics.
The researchers found that abuse directed at women in politics is viewed as more severe than those aimed at men, even if the nature and frequency of abuse received is similar. The study also explains why this occurs, showing that attacks on women are more likely to be perceived as motivated by misogyny and a desire to exclude women from public office, compared to abuse directed at men. In contrast, attacks on women are less likely than those on men to be seen as driven by other factors, such as policy disagreements.
Read here the full article published by King's College London on 22 January 2025.
Image by King's College London
Women have emerged as a significant vote bank in the last few elections in India. Despite that, political speeches of elected representatives or contestants across parties have consistently displayed an aversion to or prejudice against women. Comments have ranged from “How much are you being sold for”, “Worse than a prostitute”, “Kitni jagah leti hai woh, unka to chunao chinh hathi hai (She takes so much space, even her party symbol is that of an elephant)”, “dented-painted women protestors”, “the length of cigarettes she smokes and who she lives with”, “worse than a woman”, “temptress”, “enthral people with ghungroos and thumkas”, to “top khule nachleo vote debo na (Won’t vote for her even if she dances with her top off)”.
The recent remarks by BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri on Priyanka Gandhi’s “cheeks” and Atishi’s “change of father” add to the miserable trend. Even holding an office as high as the Chief Minister’s does not serve as a deterrent to misogynist remarks attaching derogatory and sexualised meanings concerning the body, character, conduct, and profession.
Read here the full article published by The Indian Express on 14 January 2025.
Image by The Indian Express
In Pakistan’s last general election, in February 2024, Suriya Bibi became the first woman to be elected to the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwah from Chitral, on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. She contested the election as an independent candidate with no prior history of contesting elections, though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), led by the former prime minister Imran Khan, backed her candidacy. She won with almost 19,000 votes, defeating a male candidate of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), a party representing the Deobandi brand of Islam, known for its ultra-conservative views on women’s participation in public life. After the election, Suriya Bibi also became the deputy speaker of the provincial assembly.
Read here the full article published by Himal Southasian on 11 January 2025.
Image by the Himal Southasian
From the United States to Italy, Britain, and Pakistan, female politicians are increasingly becoming victims of AI-generated deepfake pornography or sexualised images, in a troubling trend that researchers say threatens women’s participation in public life.
An online boom in non-consensual deepfakes is outpacing efforts to regulate the technology globally, experts say, with a proliferation of cheap artificial intelligence tools including photo apps digitally undressing women.
The intimate imagery is often weaponised to tarnish the reputation of women in the public sphere, jeopardising their careers, undermining public trust, and threatening national security by creating conditions for blackmail or harassment, researchers say.
In the United States, the American Sunlight Project, a disinformation research group, identified more than 35,000 instances of deepfake content depicting 26 members of Congress — 25 of them women — across pornographic sites.
Read here the full article published by The Hindu on 7 January 2025.
Image by The Hindu
When the 119th U.S. Congress is sworn in on Friday, some of the newly elected women members will be making history.
Emily Randall, from Washington’s 6th Congressional District, will be its first out LGBTQ+ Latina. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks will be the first Black senators to represent Delaware and Maryland, respectively — and the first two Black women to ever serve concurrently in the upper chamber. Sarah McBride, from Delaware’s at-large House district, will be the first transgender member of Congress. All are Democrats.
But for the first time since 2011, the number of women serving in the Senate and House of Representatives will decline.
While Democrats sent a record 110 women lawmakers to Congress, Republicans elected just 40 women across both chambers. (On Election Day, 151 women were serving.) In addition, at least one Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who was also the only woman serving in GOP House leadership, is expected to resign if she is confirmed as ambassador to the United Nations in the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Read here the full article published by The 19th News on 3 January 2025.
Image by The 19th News
The Transform Digital Threats and Public Participation Landscape Assessment Methodology reflects the collaboration and contribution of many people and organizations engaged in preventing, responding to, and mitigating Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence. All sources have been cited. Contributors of individuals remain unnamed here for their confidentiality and safety.
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is a global threat to health, safety, and political and economic wellbeing—not just to those who experience it, but to society as a whole. Indeed, the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (2023) highlighted the deep impact of technological change on the empowerment of all women and girls and the ability to achieve gender equality. Nearly 40% of women globally have experienced TFGBV, with research highlighting certain groups of women that are at higher risk of attack, including women in politics, women journalists, women human rights defenders, and women in other public facing roles. This assessment centers women in politics and public life, and the nuanced ways TFGBV threatens and impacts them. TFGBV is an increasingly prominent form of violence against women in politics and public life (VAWPP), which is defined as an “act, or threat, of physical, sexual or psychological violence that prevents women from exercising and realizing their political rights and a range of human rights.” Much like other forms of gender-based violence (GBV), there is clear data to indicate that TFGBV is a universal problem that affects women in all their diversity regardless of socioeconomic class, educational status, religious affiliation, or other social identities. TFGBV reinforces gendered stereotypes and rigid patriarchal social norms and harms the well-being of those who experience as well as witness it. TFGBV also exacerbates other forms of harm directed at women, girls and LGBTQIA+ persons based on racialized ethnicities, caste, [dis]ability and other intersecting identities. However, TFGBV is uniquely able to amplify and persist in perpetrating harm against women and gender diverse individuals with highly visible online presence due to their occupation or activism, resulting in the systematic silencing of women in public spaces such as politics, journalism, and civic activism—a phenomena known informally as the “chilling effect.”
Read here the full report published by the USAID funded Transform Program on September 2024.
Women are voluntarily leaving politics not because of sexism, double standards or work-life balance, but because they feel under-utilised, according to a new study.
Historian Alexandre Dumas was commissioned to conduct the study titled “Why do women leave politics?” by the women's committee of the Cercle des ex-parlementaires de l'Assemblée Nationale after a wave of departures in 2022.
According to his interviews with 21 former elected women, they had the impression of playing the “office plant”, he explained in parliament, borrowing the famous expression of former CAQ MNA turned Conservative Claire Samson.
At her last press briefing in June 2022, Samson shocked many by declaring that MNAs were treated "like plants" in the Salon bleu and that she had personally toiled harder as a 17-year-old at Da Giovanni.
According to Dumas, Samson — who was outraged at having to ask pre-scripted questions in parliamentary committee — “perfectly illustrates the frustration provoked by the feeling of playing a ceremonial role.”
“Women who leave politics ... feel that their skills are not recognised and that they have no other use than to be present in the House to ensure a quorum, ... in other words, to play the role of 'office plant'”, Dumas wrote.
Read here the full article published by CTV News on 11 October 2024.
Image credits: CTV News
Abstract:
The media significantly influences the formation of public opinion as well as the development and maintenance of gendered stereotypes of men and women. Given this impact, understanding gender representation is crucial for evaluating news credibility and addressing gender stereotypes. In addition, media plays a key factor in the development of democratic societies. Apparently, women are underrepresented in the news, which suggests that although they make up about half of the world's population, they are not equally represented in the reality that the news generates. Thus, this study aims to investigate factors that might influence news reporting, especially about female politicians. Adopting a qualitative approach, 11 Malaysian journalists were interviewed on their journalism practices.
Read here the full article published by the Taylor's University on 6 September 2024.
Image credits: Taylor's University
In Ghana, the recent push for a gender equality bill is a crucial step toward enhancing women’s political representation. However, its effectiveness hinges on overcoming entrenched gender biases and ensuring robust implementation to truly transform the political landscape.
On 30 July, Ghana’s parliament passed the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill, ending a process that began in 1998. Despite women constituting the majority of Ghana’s population, they hold less than 15 percent of parliamentary seats and remain underrepresented in managerial roles, even though they represent a majority in the service sector. The passage of the bill represents remarkable progress towards enhancing gender equality and inclusivity in the country and thus rightfully deserves all the attention it has garnered.
Additionally, this legislative milestone is especially significant for a country that has consistently ranked low on the Global Gender Gap Index in recent times. For example, in 2021, Ghana ranked 117 out of 156 countries; in 2022, 108 out of 146 countries; and in 2023, 100 out of 146 countries. What are the potential challenges that could impede the successful implementation of the bill (when it becomes law), and what are the prospects for this legislation in advancing gender equality and inclusivity in Ghana?
Read here the full article published by the Australian Institute of International Affairs on 20 August 2024.
Image by Australian Institute of International Affairs
How Instagram is failing women and public officials
New research by CCDH shows that Instagram failed to act on 93% of the abusive comments targeting high-profile US women politicians we reported, including death and rape threats.
Meta’s Instagram is becoming a weapon in this assault, failing to step up to make its platform safer as the US election approaches.
CCDH reported 1,000 abusive comments targeting women politicians running for office in 2024 including:
Democrat: VP Kamala Harris, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, Nancy Pelosi and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Republican: Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Maria Elvira Salazar, Anna Paulina Luna, Lauren Boebert and Senator Marsha Blackburn.
A week later, Instagram had taken no action against 926 of these hateful comments, which contained sexist and racist abuse, and death and rape threats.
An intro from CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed
Online spaces are now the primary places where societal norms and values are negotiated and normalized, and where we learn about and discuss current events, social issues, and politics. In 2024, with democracy hanging in the balance, social media platforms are under heightened scrutiny for their role in rising polarization, stoking division, and our increasingly toxic political environment. So how are they doing? In the case of Instagram, this report finds that they may as well not be trying at all. Abuse is endemic, and there is evidence they fail to act in over 9 in 10 instances even when alerted...
Read here the full report published by the Center for Countering Digital Hate on 14 August 2024.
Image by Center for Countering Digital Hate
The underrepresentation of Nigerian women in governance and politics has been a longstanding issue in political discourse.
Currently, women occupy only a small fraction of the seats in Nigeria’s National Assembly, with 3 out of 109 senators and 15 out of 360 members of the House of Representatives being female while, there are five appointed women ministers out of 45. Since gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria is yet to have a female president.
On the 9th of July the House of Representatives advanced a bill to its second reading, aiming to create 74 seats for women in the National Assembly.
The bill, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and 12 others, proposes amendments to Sections 48, 49, 71, and 117 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to establish “Special seat reserved exclusively for women in the Senate and House of Representatives for each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
The news stirred mixed emotions as the 9th National Assembly dismissed all 5 gender bills, leaving women perplexed about the obstacles they face in achieving equal representation to contribute their share to national development, akin to their male counterparts.
Read here the full article published by Radio Nigeria on 19 July 2024.
Image by Radio Nigeria