Election rivals targeted with abuse during campaign
SuppliedMisogyny risks putting women off entering politics, two rival by-election candidates who suffered abuse during their campaigns have said.
Reform UK councillor Katie Groom was elected to represent the Harton ward on South Tyneside Council last week and ran against Green candidate Kathryn Kaupa. Both said they received insults on social media related to their appearance.
Groom said: "It's an issue with women in politics, they're always subjected to scrutiny over their appearance, their clothes, their bodies, whether they're attractive or not, in a way men never seem to get."
Kaupa added: "It doesn't matter what party you belong to and what you believe in personally, we're still people."
The by-election was held after the previous Reform councillor Alex Clarke stepped down after saying he was "mis-sold the role", shortly after being accused of making antisemitic and sexist remarks on a podcast.
Groom said she had "thick skin" and would not let the comments she received "take away from what I've achieved".
"But I don't want to brush it off and say it doesn't matter, because other women can find those comments upsetting and degrading," she said.
"People need to remember they're talking to another human being."
'Cross-party conversations'
Kaupa believed the comments were intended to make her stand down but had made her feel "determined" to continue.
However, she said they risked putting "diverse voices" off entering politics for fear of abuse.
"If we don't stand, these commenters have won in keeping politics one specific gender and one specific colour," she said.
She said one commenter on social media had suggested she was a trans woman, but another defended her, saying they did not think she was but it would not matter either way.
She said "there needs to be more of that energy" and people needed to "call out" each other's behaviour online.
She added she was "impressed" to see Reform councillors speak against the abuse both candidates had received.
"I'm keen to have cross-party conversations, because this is not a one-off, it affects all of us," she said.
The government has previously said it is "taking bold and decisive action to halve violence against women and girls", with changing attitudes among boys and young men at the centre of its strategy.
