‘Exclusionary and toxic culture’: Over two-thirds of women MPs have witnessed sexist behaviour in parliament
Over two-thirds of women MPs have witnessed sexist behaviour in parliament over the last five years, according to a new report.
The Fawcett Society said 69% had seen the conduct, and only 37% of women MPs agreed with the sentence “the culture in parliament is inclusive for people like me” – compared with 55% of men in the Commons.
Research by the campaign group also highlighted the effect of online abuse received by MPs, especially women, with 93% of them saying it impacted how they felt about being an MP, compared with 76% of men. Meanwhile, 73% said it stopped them speaking up about issues on social media, compared with 51% of men.
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One woman MP told the group: “My kid came home and said ‘Mum, why do so many people hate on you?’ And you’ve got to externally put on a really, really brave face, and a fighter face, and internally it breaks you.”
The society is calling for a number of changes to “create a more inclusive parliament”, warning without “urgent action”, the issues will further exacerbate the under-representation of women in Westminster, particularly of those from black and ethnic minorities or with a disability, and will end up damaging our democracy.
The Fawcett Society conducted a survey and carried out interviews with current and former MPs about the issues they face at work.
Politicians described it as an “all-encompassing job” and said the increased pressure on them due to the likes of COVID and public service crises showed the need for reform around how parliament works.
Almost half of MPs with caring responsibilities said that the timings and predictability of the parliamentary schedule had a negative impact on how they feel about being in the Commons, with 66% of all MPs supporting more certainty in the timings of votes and sitting hours, and 63% backing greater support for MPs with caring responsibilities.
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‘Toxic behaviours’
In every area the society explored, they found the impact was greater on women MPs – saying the “push factors” of sexism, online abuse and the impact on family from doing the job “shut many women’s voices out of politics”.
“These findings sound clear alarm bells,” said Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society. “Sexism, racism, ableism and other forms of discrimination have no place in our society and when we hear so many MPs have experienced these toxic behaviours – both in parliament and online – it’s extremely concerning and damages our democracy.
“Given these are the experiences of some of the most powerful women in our country, imagine how much worse it is for those without power or privilege. The case for modernising parliament is stark.”
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The society has listed a number of measures it wants parliament to take to “create a House for everyone”, including:
• Establishing an accountability mechanism to report publicly about progress to make parliament more inclusive
• Investigating changes to sitting hours and online or proxy voting
• Increasing budgets for MPs’ staffing, office running costs and childcare needs
• Ensuring the Electoral Commission and local police have the resources to take legal action against those who intimidate candidates and campaigners
The group also wants an amendment to the much delayed Online Safety Bill to address the disproportionate levels of online abuse experienced by women, especially those from ethnic minorities, and increase the accountability of tech companies.
And they want political parties to introduce quotas to increase the representation of women in parliament, especially from minority backgrounds.
Ms Olchawski added: “MPs are rightly proud of the difference they can make to our society – but without urgent action, we won’t achieve the diverse, inclusive and representative democracy that the UK needs more than ever.”
‘Our democracy must work for everyone’
The report has the support of former women and equalities minister Maria Miller, who now chairs the all-party parliamentary group for women in parliament.
“Diverse parliaments are shown time and time again to be key to a strong democracy, yet, Fawcett’s research shows that, whilst important changes have been made in the House of Commons, progress towards a more diverse House of Commons is ‘far too slow’,” the Tory MP said.
“The research identifies a number of well-considered changes to the running of parliament that can easily be agreed by MPs, which would continue to change the culture of the House of Commons and monitor the progress being made to make it a more attractive place for a wider range of people to work.
“The best House of Commons is essential to our democracy and must work for everyone who is elected to it.”