Women members of parliament (MPs) experience high rates of sexual harassment, discrimination, and violence, according to a new report from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Of particular concern, more than forty percent of women MPs surveyed said they had received “threats of death, rape, beatings or abduction during their parliamentary terms.” The IPU, which interviewed women MPs and legislators from thirty-nine countries around the world, said the problem is global, impeding gender equality and undermining “the foundations of democracy.
Compiled from: Ford, Liz, Threats of death and violence common for women in politics, report says, The Guardian (October 26, 2016); IPU study reveals widespread sexism, harassment and violence against women MPs, IPU Press Release (October 26, 2016).