Over half of local assemblywomen suffer harassment: government survey
The report on barriers to women's participation in politics, released Friday, said that 53.8% of local assemblywomen answered in the government agency's latest survey that they themselves, their family members, or their supporters have been harassed by others while 23.6% of assemblymen made similar answers.
Specifically, "verbal abuse" was cited by both male and female members as the leading form of harassment. "Insulting behavior and remarks based on unconscious gender bias" and "physical contact and stalking" were complained much more strongly by women than men.
On harassers, 65.7% of female members pointed the finger at election rivals and their supporters as well as peer assembly members, while 64.0% mentioned voters.
Meanwhile, 41.0% of male members have never experienced or heard about harassment, far exceeding the proportion of such female members, which came to 19.5%.
Another finding was that 73.6% of female members faced challenges to juggle political activities with family life, compared with 36.4% for male members.
The survey was conducted with local assembly members across the country in November and December last year. Valid replies were received from 5,075 members.
In a separate survey conducted in November of 1,000 people who had given up the idea of seeking a parliamentary or local assembly seat, more than 40% of women had refrained from running in elections due to sex-specific health reasons, such as pregnancy, or the traditional belief among surrounding people that politics is for men.
The results highlighted the fact that harassment remains a barrier to political gender equality even after a revised law to promote the equality took effect in June 2021, critics said.
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