Threats and harassment drive most people out of politics.
MP’s, MLA’s, City Council members, and every other politician that have stepped down recently have cited increased harassment and threats as a reason why they won’t run again, regardless of sex or gender.
We need to solve the issue of mentally unstable citizens threatening and harassing our politicians, and we do not need to make this about sex or gender to do it.
It’d be interesting to know what’s more effective: programs preventing harassment in general, or programs preventing harassment against specific groups.
I much prefer the general strategy. It doesn’t feel exclusionary, and it’s easier to justify the overall need.
Having said that, women face more violence.
But:
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.
We need to solve the issue of mentally unstable citizens threatening and harassing our politicians, and we do not need to make this about sex or gender to do it.
I think that they all could use anti-harassment and violence training since the trend of misbehaviour is not going away.
It’s frigging school-yard bullying and it’s easy for most to fall prey to.
