Enough is Enough: The Epidemic Harassment and Violence Against Women in Politics
Image source: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call (Getty Images)
The 2022 midterms are shaping up to have mixed results in terms of advancing representation of women in government. According to a forecast by FiveThirtyEight, there are 12 female gubernatorial candidates who have at least a 50% chance of winning their races and if all of them claim victory, that would break the record for most women serving in the role of governor simultaneously. In Congress, the prognosis is far less promising. A number of the most vulnerable seats up for reelection are currently occupied by women, and it is possible that the number of women in Congress will decline after the 2022 elections.
Amidst such uneven progress in representation, there is also mounting empirical evidence that women in government are facing a hostile and dangerous environment.
Princeton University and the Anti-Defamation League recently created a new database that tracks harassment and threats made against public officials. They reported in their findings that women are targeted at a higher frequency than others, making up 42.5% of the total incidents. Adjusting for the proportion of women in office, they found that women are targeted 3.4x more than men.
One high profile example of violence aimed at women officials happened on October 28, 2022, when Paul Pelosi was violently assaulted by an intruder who broke into his house looking for his wife, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The intruder claimed he wanted to break her kneecaps.
While this attacker’s actions are horrifying just as an isolated incident, it is even more troubling to know that it is indicative of a pattern of misogyny fueled violence aimed at female politicians.
Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington was stalked outside her home by a man armed with a gun. Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston has reported facing targeted harassment, which she says is something experienced by “just about every woman mayor.”
While most of the prominent incidents of harassment and violence directed towards female officials come from constituents, there have also been plenty of incidents that prove women can’t even escape harassment from their fellow members of government. In July 2020, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York was verbally harassed by Representative Ted Yoho of Florida on the steps of the Capitol. Yoho accosted her for her assertion that poverty was driving a spike in crime during the COVID-19 pandemic and referred to her as a “fucking bitch.”
It is also crucial to recognize that while women in government on the whole are facing frightening levels of targeted violence, the level of risk faced by women of color in government is even higher.
A recently published report by the Center for Democracy and Technology found that in a study of online abuse against candidates in the 2020 United States Congressional election, women of color candidates are more likely to be the target of sexism (in comparison to white women), racism (in comparison to men of color), and threats of violence (at a rate four times higher than white candidates and two times higher than male candidates of color).
Looking at this data, I cannot help but find myself incredibly disheartened. It is increasingly obvious that women entering politics are facing immense risks to their personal safety and well-being. Whether they are running for an elected office or serving in the office itself, women encounter alarming threats of violence as soon as they enter public life.
Currently, there are 147 women serving in Congress, 27.5% of the total 535 representatives. There are nine women presently serving as governor, several of which are the first in their state’s history. These numbers are abysmally low, and I struggle to figure out how we will ever be able to improve them when I think about the level of violence and harassment women in office are facing. How discouraging it must be for women to want to get involved in politics, seeing the violence that could be directed at them simply for participating.
I cannot say I know what a progressive path away from this pattern of misogyny and violence towards women in government would look like, considering how deeply entrenched our culture is in patriarchy–but something desperately needs to change.
References
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Cheng, Amy. “Man Arrested With Gun Outside Rep. Jayapal’s Home Charged With Stalking.”
The Washington Post, July 29, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/29/rep-pramila-jayapal-brett-forsell-stalker-seattle/.
Dorman, John L. “AOC Says Her Office Struggles To Keep Up With The ‘Astronomical’ Level
Of Daily Threats That She Receives.” Business Insider, October 2, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-congressional-threats-additional-security-members-capitol-police-2022-10.
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A New Database Tracks The Threats.” Forbes, November 2, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/erinspencer1/2022/11/02/women-in-politics-have-to-deal-with-more-harassment-and-violence-a-new-database-is-tracking-those-threats/?sh=70cc2858e16c.
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