London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Women politicians face daily abuse on social media

Imagine picking up your phone and receiving abusive messages every day.

Women in politics have spoken of their experiences of dealing with sexism and hatred on social media while voicing their political opinions.

Gender equality charity Chwarae Teg said it feared a growing number of women were being put off standing for election due to online abuse.

Two young women in politics have spoken about their experiences facing online abuse to the BBC's Politics Wales.

One member of the Labour Party, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she had to deal with sexist attacks on social media every day.

"I get called a whore, that I'm a slut, that I should put my tits away, that I'm unintelligent, that I'm an idiot, that I should go away and bake a cake instead - which was my personal favourite," she said.

"[They claim] I'm uneducated, I have no place in politics, and you get this daily, it's recurrent."

She said she had also experienced misogyny from male politicians, but had not reported any of the incidents "because there's no point".

"I've had experiences of councillors who've kissed me, who take me aside, who say 'you know if you don't sleep with me then you won't get anywhere in the Labour party'," she said.

"It makes me feel really angry. It makes me feel scared as well, and for a long time I stayed off social media because of just how sort of upset it made me.

"But I'm very aware that personally I can sort of bat it off, but there are young girls who are coming up through politics, who maybe don't have the same coping mechanisms that I do.

"It makes me feel really angry for them, because with those things you're scared away. If you're put down so much, you sort of listen to it, and it really is horrid."

Jas, a member of the Liberal Democrats, said people had brought up her sex life on social media.

"I'll get messages like death threats, bullying, or just really unkind comments about what I look like or my personality, or political views I hold. So it is quite bad," she said.

"My sex life gets brought into it a lot as well. So people will say I'm a slut, I'm a whore, things like that.

"Even on the views I hold I'll be called an idiot or even more severe than that, like people will say I'm a retard.

"It's constant. I must get three of these messages every week or two. For a young person to deal with I think that's a lot."

Jas has complained, but said that there was "not much" the party could do.

"In our party, at the moment our complaints procedure isn't functioning very well. It's kind of backlogged," she said.

"We have very severe complains that haven't been dealt with properly, so never mind small complaints. In terms of parties and reporting, not many people do it, because there isn't much you can do."

Helen Antoniazzi, of Chwarae Teg, said there was a risk social media abuse could discourage women from engaging in politics.

"I think that essentially what is at the bare bones of this is people trying to stop women from having a voice and from expressing their opinion, and this is a way they can see they can do that," she said.

"There's a fear that more and more women will be put off standing for election and putting themselves forward for political positions, because of the fear of this abuse and because of the abuse in itself.

"We've got a role as a wider society to make sure that abuse is challenged and is not seen as acceptable so that women do feel able to put themselves forward and to participate in politics and express their opinions."

A Labour spokesman said the party took all complaints of abuse and harassment, online or in person, extremely seriously.

All complaints are fully investigated, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken, he added.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats said the party took issues seriously and investigated all complaints.

It added that there were also organisations within the party which support women and young people, including helping them to deal with social media abuse.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×