Every-Palmer Susanna, Hansby Oliver, Barry-Walsh Justin
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
Mental Health, Addiction and Intellectual Disability Services, Te Whatu Ora Health, New Zealand, Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley, New Zealand.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 16;15:1357907. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1357907. eCollection 2024.
High levels of harassment and threats against parliamentarians are being reported internationally, especially in the social media space. This is occurring alongside changes in our social landscape, with increasing political polarisation and the ongoing ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic. Harassment of politicians has been shown to have implications for psychological wellbeing and physical safety.
To investigate harassment and violence towards parliamentarians in the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery era, including whether there had been a change in its nature and quantity, and to explore the contribution of social media.
A survey of all New Zealand's parliamentarians was fielded in 2022, focusing on their experiences of harassment analysed quantitatively and with manifest and latent content analysis of free text responses. Data were disaggregated and compared by gender. Secondary analyses were conducted on similar data collected from parliamentarians in 2014 to compare trends over time.
We obtained a cleaned achieved survey sample of 54 Members of Parliament (MPs). Harassment was reported by 98% of respondents, ranging from disturbing communication to actual physical violence. The vast majority of MPs endorsed multiple modalities of harassment occurring on multiple occasions. Ninety-six percent of MPs had been harassed over social media, with over half being threatened, including threats of physical violence (40%), sexual violence (14%), threats made towards MP's family members (19%), threats towards staff (12%), and death threats (27%). Almost all forms of harassment had increased significantly since 2014. Most MPs reported experiencing abuse related to the Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. lockdowns and vaccine mandates). Many MPs commented that the frequency and intensity of abuse increased markedly during the COVID pandemic and had not subsequently abated. Women were at significantly higher risk of certain types of social media harassment including gendered abuse, sexualised comments, threat of sexual violence, and threats toward their family.
Harassment of parliamentarians is an escalating issue. Online threats and misogyny are increasingly apparent. This harassment has significant psychosocial costs for victims, their family and staff, and for democratic processes.
国际上有报道称针对议员的骚扰和威胁行为增多，尤其是在社交媒体领域。这种情况与社会格局的变化同时出现，包括政治两极分化加剧以及新冠疫情的持续影响。对政治家的骚扰已被证明会对其心理健康和人身安全产生影响。
调查新冠疫情期间及恢复阶段针对议员的骚扰和暴力行为，包括其性质和数量是否发生变化，并探讨社交媒体在其中所起的作用。
2022年对新西兰所有议员进行了一项调查，重点是对他们所经历的骚扰进行定量分析，并对自由文本回复进行显性和隐性内容分析。数据按性别进行分类和比较。对2014年从议员那里收集的类似数据进行了二次分析，以比较不同时期的趋势。
我们获得了一个由54名国会议员组成的经过清理的有效调查样本。98%的受访者报告受到过骚扰，从令人不安的通信到实际身体暴力。绝大多数议员认可在多种场合发生的多种骚扰形式。96%的议员在社交媒体上受到过骚扰，其中一半以上受到过威胁，包括身体暴力威胁（40%）、性暴力威胁（14%）、针对议员家庭成员的威胁（19%）、针对工作人员的威胁（12%）以及死亡威胁（27%）。自2014年以来，几乎所有形式的骚扰都显著增加。大多数议员报告称经历过与政府应对新冠疫情相关的辱骂（例如封锁措施和疫苗强制令）。许多议员表示，辱骂的频率和强度在新冠疫情期间显著增加，且此后并未减弱。女性遭受某些类型社交媒体骚扰的风险显著更高，包括性别歧视性辱骂、带有性暗示的评论、性暴力威胁以及对其家人的威胁。
对议员的骚扰是一个日益严重的问题。网络威胁和厌女现象越来越明显。这种骚扰对受害者、其家人和工作人员以及民主进程都造成了巨大的心理社会成本。
