<
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/mar/25/women-politics-violence-sexism-harassment-female-mps-asia-pacific-inter-parliamentary-union-ipu-report>
"Sexism, harassment and violence against women are rife in parliaments across
the Asia-Pacific region, according to a damning report published on Tuesday
that lays bare the scale of abuse faced by women in politics.
Based on interviews with 150 female MPs and parliamentary staff across 33
countries across the region – including Australia, Mongolia, India, Indonesia,
Laos, Fiji and Micronesia – the study found that 76% of MPs and 63% of staff
had experienced psychological gender-based violence, with 60% of MPs saying
they had been targeted online by hate speech, disinformation and image-based
abuse. An equal number of women were interviewed from each country.
One in four women reported having experienced sexual violence, with more than
half of the harassment against female MPs taking place on parliamentary
premises and committed by male parliamentarians. Two respondents said they had
been sexually assaulted.
Such acts were often used to delegitimise women’s presence in politics and
force them into silence or invisibility, the report concluded.
The MPs questioned – all of whom were guaranteed anonymity – described an
environment permeated by misogyny and routine harassment. One MP recalled a
male colleague telling her: “If you show me your underwear, I’ll vote for you.”
Another woman said her superior “tried to force me into his hotel room,
whispering in my ear, ‘I can touch you, can’t I?’” A third woman was asked by a
male colleague: “Why don’t you stay at home and in the kitchen with the
children?”
A parliamentary staff member also reported that women in her office kept an
unofficial list of “weird male parliamentarians” to warn one another about
repeat offenders.
“Violence and sexism against women in politics is a direct assault on
democracy,” said Martin Chungong, secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU), the Geneva-based global organisation of legislatures that
published the report, adding that “parliaments must be sanctuaries for healthy
debate and law-making”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
