Female TDs and senators face “higher” threats of sexual violence and sexual harassment, UCD survey finds

Female Oireachtas members are also more likely to be harassed online and subject to prejudiced insults. This is the result of the new survey, which examined how common insults and harassment are among politicians.

Almost all TDs and senators have said they have experienced “some form of threat, harassment, abuse or violence”.

94 per cent of TDs and senators who took part in the survey said they had experienced some form of threat, harassment, abuse or violence, and 72 per cent of political staff working for TDs and senators said the same.

According to 67 per cent of Oireachtas members who took part in the survey, the biggest issue related to abuse was immigration.

It was also the top concern for political staff when it came to abuse: 46 percent said it was related to the abuse, followed by housing and homelessness at 40 percent.

“Significant rates of abuse” are linked to social media presence, according to a survey summary published at Leinster House today.

A “specific guide” should be developing how to access support and reporting mechanisms, as these are “unevenly” taken up by politicians and their staff.

There are three types of different effects of abuse: psychological effects, effects on political ambitions and social effects as debate on certain issues is silenced.

The survey recommends studying these impacts in more detail and developing specific measures to mitigate these impacts.

73 per cent of TDs and senators who took part in the survey said they “frequently” experience abuse on social media.

More than a third of these respondents said they experience harassment in personal interactions, and 35 percent said it occurs when they attend social events in their political capacity.

The most common types of abuse for Oireachtas members are offensive language (52 percent), biased insults (38 percent), publishing false information (34 percent), comments on their appearance (35 percent) and spreading malicious and false rumors (27). Percent).

More than one in five said this abuse took the form of persistent unwanted phone calls and messages.

Political staffers also said offensive language was the most common form of harassment, including comments about their appearance (13 percent), persistent phone calls or text messages (12 percent), gender-based, racist or homophobic slurs (10 percent), and 5 percent said The most common type of harassment reported to be abuse was unwanted advances or attempts at contact.

89 per cent of TDs and senators and 73 per cent of their political staff said the abuse had left them “fearful and anxious”.

Half (49 percent) of politicians increased home security and 43 percent said it made them less likely to run for office in the future.

Today’s news in 90 seconds – May 15, 2024

More than a quarter of employees said this made them less likely to want to work for politicians in the future.

With immigration being the most common issue linked to abuse, TDs and senators also said women’s rights (47 percent) were the most common issue, as were housing and homelessness (40 percent) and LGBTQ+ issues (40 percent).

75 per cent of Oireachtas members said they had reported the abuse and 90 per cent said it had been reported to gardaí.

Of those who did not report incidents, 57 per cent said they did not report it to gardaí because reporting would not lead to a resolution – and 64 per cent said they did not consider the incident to be “sufficiently serious”.

The Oireachtas Taskforce on Safe Participation in Political Life will also publish its action plan with recommendations today.

The measures include the creation of a “comprehensive social media support service”, including a media monitoring service for TDs and senators.

The Oireachtas House also wants to establish itself as a “trusted flagger” with the new media commission so that social media platforms prioritize reports received by the Oireachtas.