Don’t you just know Philip Davies wants to complain that male MPs receive online and verbal abuse too?

No, Philip. That’s just you. Some would argue that you deserve it.

The survey isn’t brilliant – only around a third of female MPs took part, which is pretty poor coverage considering there are 195 of them in total.

So if two-thirds of those who did take part feel “less safe” now, that amounts to only around 46 – still too many but, considering the numbers involved, it would be hard to say that means 130 female MPs feel that way. Just ask them all!

The survey does not appear to have asked female MPs to speculate on why levels of abuse have increased. There must be reasons. Is it due to the kind of legislation that has been passed, leading voters to feel contempt for their representatives? Is it because the Conservative Government has encouraged abuse of certain sections of society?

The amount of sexism against men was surprising, also. According to poll responses, having more female MPs would improve the quality of decisions, cut down on time-wasting and would mean less “hot air from men”. Another said Parliament would be run “more sensibly”. How would they feel if these comments were applied to female MPs? Sexism works both ways.

Hmm. Perhaps Mr Davies has a point after all, if this is the attitude of his female colleagues?

I mean, it’s all very well complaining about sexist comments like being told they should be “in the kitchen washing dishes” (in Vox Towers, This Writer does all the washing-up, and most of the cooking. But then, I am a carer) but that’s no excuse for making equally sexist comments against men. Lead by example, ladies!

Of course there is no justification for sexual assault in any workplace and if any female MPs have suffered this they should report it to the police. Never mind if it’s a member of your own party doing it – nobody should be allowed to get away with it.

Complaints were made about long-distance travel, irregular hours and late parliamentary sittings – but don’t men have to deal with those as well?

And this could be applied to concerns about kickbacks against family members including children “if I do anything controversial”. Being an MP means being controversial sometimes.

Meaningful change comes from rocking the boat, not sitting meekly and letting wrongs – or indeed abuses – continue.

An overwhelming majority of women MPs have received online and verbal abuse from the public and a third have considered quitting as a result, a BBC Radio 5 live survey suggests.

Some reported death threats, with more than half of those questioned saying they had had physical threats.

More than a third of the UK’s 195 female MPs took part in the research.

Of these, two thirds said they felt “less safe” following the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox last summer.

Source: Mistreatment of women MPs revealed – BBC News

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