Attitudes to abuse of female politicians needs to change: critics

Thursday, 18 January 2024

Placing the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff when it comes to the abuse hurled at female politicians needs to change, critics say.

“We seem to not change things, until something actually dire happens,” senior employment lawyer Barbara Buckett said.

“That attitude has to change.”

The political career of Green MP Golriz Ghahraman came to a end on Tuesday after she resigned over shoplifting allegations. She said her mental health was badly affected by the stresses relating to work, saying it led her to act in ways “completely out of character”.

Her co-leader James Shaw acknowledged that Ghahraman had been subject to continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, death threats 'since the day she was elected to Parliament'.

Former Labour MP Angela Roberts was involved in an incident during the election campaign. She explained on social media that a man grabbed her shoulders and shook her in order to emphasise the point he was making.

“Then he slapped my cheeks with both hands.”

Roberts said women politicians “have to cop more, and then we're told suck that up”.

Asked if there was enough support for politicians receiving continual abuse, Roberts said, “Parliament is a tough place, it’s a very public job”.

“You do need to be prepared to be accountable and transparent, right? But that's very, very different from hurling abuse at somebody, that isn't being held to account. That's just shutting someone down.

In 2022, Christchurch City Councillor Sara Templeton tracked down the IP address of an account used to target female politicians, including herself, Labour MP Megan Woods and former Labour MP Sarah Pallett.

Speaking about the abuse received as a public official, Templeton told The Post, “it’s awful”.

“We, as a whole, are disincentivised to not talk about and we're basically told to not go public.

“We need to say it's not good enough and it shouldn't happen and we need to call it out when it happens.”

Local Government New Zealand have recently started offering counselling sessions, “but that's after the fact… it's once you've suffered, if you like, then you get some support afterwards”.

Porirua City Council Mayor Anita Baker spoke about the abuse she received in 2022 - receiving three death threats that year.

“The most important thing is to have it support around you and not let it affect the work you're doing because that's what they're trying to do, they're trying to unstabilise what you're doing as a person because usually you're succeeding.”

Baker hoped Ghahraman was able to move on with her life and ignore “all the nasty people because every day there is someone wanting to take you out, whether you’re an official or a woman.

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson said he was glad Ghahraman was getting professional support, but added, “we need to appreciate the stresses and strains that she's been under”.

Robinson said workplaces, including Parliament, needed to be safe for mental health.

“There is actually a legal obligation that workplaces mentally and emotionally safe. And we need to hold people accountable for their behaviour.”

Parliamentary Service is responsible for the safety and security of current MPs, staff and public and on the Parliament Precinct, and Electorate and Community Offices.

In the case of abuse and threats Parliamentary Service makes referrals to and works with the Police and the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre.

Additional reporting by Sinead Gill