An Otago University psychology professor says the anonymity of social media makes people feel they can get away with hurling abuse at MPs – and especially wāhine Māori MPs.
Susanna Every-Palmer is co-author of a study which found 98 percent of the 54 MPs from the last parliament who responded reported some form of harassment.
Women MPs, especially Māori, Pasifika and other ethnic minorities, got the worst abuse – including twice as many death threats and six times more threats against their families.
“Women were at much higher risks of certain types of social media harassment – including gendered abuse, sexualised comments, rape threats, and probably worst of all for them, threats towards their family members – like their kids,” Professor Every-Palmer, says.
While most threats are just to be hurtful in words – there are enough examples to show that physical attacks can happen..
- Waatea News