Sexism, harassment and violence against women: #NotInMyParliament

“We must denounce sexist stereotypes which result in open and subtle discrimination, as well as harassment, intimidation and violence. There should be no place for such disgraceful and shameful behaviour in Parliaments, including in our Assembly, whether towards female parliamentarians or female staff members working for our Assembly,” said PACE President Liliane Maury Pasquier today, inviting the members and secretariat of the Assembly to support the hashtag initiative #NotInMyParliament to denounce sexism, harassment and violence against women in Parliaments.

“I hope that the #NotInMyParliament initiative will soon spread to other sectors – possible examples include hashtags such as #NotInMyCity, #NotInMyUniversity, #NotInMyOffice. Together, we can launch a real social movement against sexist stereotypes and violence so as to raise awareness of this unacceptable phenomenon and to combat it with resolve and determination. There again, I count on your support,” she stressed.

PACE’s action follows the recent publication of a joint regional study by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) which revealed alarming levels of sexism, harassment and violence against women in national parliaments.

This study is based on voluntary one-to-one conversations with 123 women from 45 European countries. 81 of these women were members of parliament (MP) and 42 were members of the parliamentary staff.

The study shows that acts of sexism, abuse and violence against women are indeed to be found in parliaments in Europe. The extent and nature of these acts, which are violations of fundamental rights, need to be addressed by parliaments and require action to be taken:

85.2 per cent of female MPs who took part in the study said that they had suffered psychological violence in the course of their term of office.
46.9 per cent had received death threats or threats of rape or beating.
58.2 per cent had been the target of online sexist attacks on social networks.
67.9 per cent had been the target of comments relating to their physical appearance or based on gender stereotypes.
24.7 per cent had suffered sexual violence.
14.8 per cent had suffered physical violence.
Female MPs under the age of 40 were more frequently subject to psychological and sexual harassment.
Female MPs active in the fight against gender inequality and violence against women were օften singled out for attack.
The perpetrators of harassment and violence were both political opponents and colleagues from the women’s
own party, or ordinary citizens.
The study also shows that there is an alarming amount of sexual and psychological harassment/bullying targetingfemale parliamentary staff in Europe:
40.5 per cent of those interviewed said that they had suffered acts of sexual harassment in their work.
In 69.2 per cent of cases, the perpetrators were male MPs.
50 per cent had received comments of a sexual nature.
In 61.5 per cent of cases, such comments had come from a male MP.
19.5 per cent of those interviewed had also suffered psychological harassment/bullying in their work in parliament from MPs and colleagues in the parliamentary staff, mostly from men but also from women.
There was a very low level of reporting of those acts:
23.5 per cent of female MPs and 6 per cent of female members of parliamentary staff who had been sexually harassed had reported the incident.
50 per cent of women MPs who had received threats of physical violence had reported the incidents to the police, the security department in the parliament or another department.
Several of the women who took part in the survey deplored that there was at present no service or mechanism in their parliament to which they could turn in the event of harassment or violence.
Sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments have negative effects on the physical and
psychological health of the people concerned. They also impact the quality and effectiveness of parliamentary
work and, consequently, public policies.
As such, sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments prevent parliaments from being
places which are inclusive and representative of society as a whole.
Parliaments must find comprehensive solutions to prevent and combat sexism and violence against women
in parliaments, including measures to encourage such acts to be reported.