Gender differences in stalking, threats and online abuse reported by Victorian politicians

Phillips, Lisa; Pathé, Michele; McEwan, Troy E.

doi:10.1080/13218719.2022.2142975

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…These findings speak to the high cost of holding public office and the risk to vital democratic activity are similar to those found in the UK ( 18 ) and are consistent with the described pernicious psychological effects of sustained harassment ( 33 ). Previous research has raised the spectre of harassment and threats to change in the behaviour of elected representatives to lessen engagement with their communities or to decide not to continue in politics if they are subject to harassment and abuse ( 17 , 18 , 34 ). If this is the case, then the damage to our democratic institutions may be considerable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The emergence of disaffected online communities can attract and validate fixated individuals who align with extremist ideologies, leading to intensified online harassment and real-world threats. Notwithstanding the fact that harassment and stalking causes considerable psychological harm, irrespective of any physical violence that may eventuate (33,39), for many participants, the fear of being hurt or killed, or having a family member harmed by a fixated individual was a live concern.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stalking, harassment, gendered abuse, and violence towards politicians in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery era

Every-Palmer,

Hansby,

Barry-Walsh

2024

Front. Psychiatry

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BackgroundHigh levels of harassment and threats against parliamentarians are being reported internationally, especially in the social media space. This is occurring alongside changes in our social landscape, with increasing political polarisation and the ongoing ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic. Harassment of politicians has been shown to have implications for psychological wellbeing and physical safety.ObjectivesTo investigate harassment and violence towards parliamentarians in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery era, including whether there had been a change in its nature and quantity, and to explore the contribution of social media.MethodsA survey of all New Zealand’s parliamentarians was fielded in 2022, focusing on their experiences of harassment analysed quantitatively and with manifest and latent content analysis of free text responses. Data were disaggregated and compared by gender. Secondary analyses were conducted on similar data collected from parliamentarians in 2014 to compare trends over time.FindingsWe obtained a cleaned achieved survey sample of 54 Members of Parliament (MPs). Harassment was reported by 98% of respondents, ranging from disturbing communication to actual physical violence. The vast majority of MPs endorsed multiple modalities of harassment occurring on multiple occasions. Ninety-six percent of MPs had been harassed over social media, with over half being threatened, including threats of physical violence (40%), sexual violence (14%), threats made towards MP’s family members (19%), threats towards staff (12%), and death threats (27%). Almost all forms of harassment had increased significantly since 2014. Most MPs reported experiencing abuse related to the Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. lockdowns and vaccine mandates). Many MPs commented that the frequency and intensity of abuse increased markedly during the COVID pandemic and had not subsequently abated. Women were at significantly higher risk of certain types of social media harassment including gendered abuse, sexualised comments, threat of sexual violence, and threats toward their family.ConclusionHarassment of parliamentarians is an escalating issue. Online threats and misogyny are increasingly apparent. This harassment has significant psychosocial costs for victims, their family and staff, and for democratic processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stalking, harassment, gendered abuse, and violence towards politicians in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery era

Every-Palmer,

Hansby,

Barry-Walsh

2024

Front. Psychiatry

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The Social Media, Online and Digital Abuse and Harassment of Social Workers, Probation Officers and Social Work Students in Ireland: A National Survey

Burns,

Halvey,

Ó Súilleabháin

et al. 2024

The British Journal of Social Work

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An estimated five billion people use social media globally. The digital world enables networking and community-building beyond geographical and jurisdictional boundaries, it can facilitate information-sharing and knowledge development, and facilitates speedy access and communications links. On the other hand, digital and social media platforms can also be sources and purveyors of hurt, discrimination, defamation, hatred, abuse, cyberbullying and disinformation. Their increased usage within professional practice has become a nascent area for scholarly debate and research. Our scoping literature search indicated that there are very few studies examining this issue within the profession. This article seeks to address a considerable gap in the research by reporting the findings from an exploratory study in Ireland focusing on social workers, probation officers and social work students. Three hundred seventy-nine participants completed an online survey on their experiences of using social media, with eighty-three (21.9 per cent) participants indicating that they had experienced online and digital abuse and harassment. Facebook, Twitter (now X), and email were the top three sources of abuse and harassment by platform.

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Gender differences in online abuse: the case of Dutch politicians

van der Vegt

2024

Crime Sci

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Online abuse and threats towards politicians have become a significant concern in the Netherlands, like in many other countries across the world. This paper analyses gender differences in abuse received by Dutch politicians on X (formerly Twitter), while taking into account the possible additional impact of ethnic minority status. All tweets directed at party leaders throughout the entire year of 2022 were collected. The effect of gender and ethnic minority status were estimated for six different linguistic measures of abuse, namely, toxicity, severe toxicity, identity attacks, profanity, insults, and threats. Contrary to expectations, tweets directed at male politicians scored higher on all forms of abuse. Significant interaction effects between gender and ethnic minority status were found for a number of abuse measures. Tweets directed at ethnic minority female politicians scored higher on severe toxicity, identity attacks, and profanity, compared to those directed at ethnic majority female politicians. Importantly, female ethnic minority politicians received the highest levels of threats compared to all groups. Given that online abuse and threats are reported to have a negative effect on political participation and retention, these results are particularly worrying.

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Gender differences in stalking, threats and online abuse reported by Victorian politicians

Cited by 3 publications

References 27 publications

Stalking, harassment, gendered abuse, and violence towards politicians in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery era

Stalking, harassment, gendered abuse, and violence towards politicians in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery era

The Social Media, Online and Digital Abuse and Harassment of Social Workers, Probation Officers and Social Work Students in Ireland: A National Survey

Gender differences in online abuse: the case of Dutch politicians

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