Harassment in politics: ‘You become fair game for literally anything’

When Senator Fiona O’Loughlin is attending political meetings at night she parks her car near a bright light as a matter of course.

She says that as a woman politician, “It is one of those things you’d be very conscious of.”

The Fianna Fáil chair of the Irish Women's Parliamentary Caucus says there is a fear of intimidation and harassment. as well as sexualised threats that female politicians are subjected to.

On the environment for women politicians she says: “It’s difficult because once you put your name to a ballot paper . . . you become open and fair game in some people’s minds for literally anything.”

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Labour party leader Ivana Bacik – another prominent member of the women's caucus agreed the issue is "a real concern".

The issue of safety for women in politics has been highlighted in recent cases in Ireland as well as in the UK, where both Tory MP David Amess and Labour MP Jo Cox were murdered in 2021 and 2016.

TDs and Senators here have been offered at least two briefings by gardaí on personal safety and security in recent months.

Lewd letters

Ms O’Loughlin said she believed that there was more that could be done.

The former TD said she had been on the receiving end of threatening and lewd anonymous letters and phone calls.

Ms O’Loughlin said “hand-delivered is difficult because you know then that they’re coming to your home”.

She said that politicians’ addresses were readily publicly available on ballot papers and she suggested there should be a new system whereby election candidates could swear an affidavit to prove their address to election authorities which would then not be revealed publicly.

She also said that there should be funding for politicians to improve security on their homes when they were subjected to threats.

She said, “I believe it is something that needs to be followed through. We’re looking at ways of trying to encourage women into politics, support those that are in politics. We have to look at this.”

Ms O’Loughlin said she intended to raise both proposals at the next meeting of the caucus.

Gendered abuse

Like Ms O’Loughlin, Ms Bacik believes women politicians are subjected to more abuse than their male counterparts.

She said she had been on the receiving end “quite extensively” but also said the incident that had the most serious impact on her was sexual harassment she experienced when she worked as a waitress before entering politics.

The Dublin Bay South TD said, “certainly there’s a particularly nasty gendered aspect to much of the abuse that women tend to get”.

But she added, “It’s not just about women in politics but about women getting harassed online in a more general setting, in workplace or school settings as well.”

Ms Bacik said new laws aimed at cracking down on online bullying and harassment were being put in place and the Online Safety Bill was going through the Oireachtas.

In terms of politics, she said while less than one in four TDs were women, gender quota legislation had had an impact and it would rise to 40 per cent in the next general election.

“If a critical mass of women comes into public life, that does change the culture and there’s a more inclusive environment.”