One hundred years after the first woman was elected to Parliament, women are being driven out of politics by abuse, harassment and threats of violence or rape.

Women MPs from across the political spectrum, including Lib Dem MP Heidi Allen and Conservative MP Nicky Morgan, have announced they will be standing down.

Labour MP Diane Abbott continues to face both misogynist and racist abuse, and in the 2017 general election received over half of all online abuse directed at female politicians. This highlights how abuse disproportionately affects Black, Asian and minority ethnic women, who are more likely to experience multiple levels of discrimination. This acts as a further barrier to women’s political participation.

Throughout history women have faced abuse for speaking up, from Mary Wollstonecraft to the suffragettes who were told to ‘drown themselves’, to the threats and acts of violence against politically active women – from bloggers and tweeters, to candidates, councillors and MPs.

While women have won the right to vote, our right to participate in public life free from violence, harassment, abuse and all other forms of discrimination continues to be threatened.

At the next election we risk going backwards on women’s representation.

We as members of the Centenary Action Group, a cross-party campaigning coalition of over 100 activists, politicians and women’s rights organisations specifically call for:

• All parties to condemn attacks and abuse of MPs and to commit in principle to a binding Joint Standard of Conduct which seeks to protect candidates during an election campaign and agrees a responsible framework for legitimate public debate.
• Social media companies to improve their reporting mechanisms and to ensure a better response to complaints of violence and harassment. The impending UK election must be an opportunity to radically improve social media company standards and their implementation. Parties should commit to spending at least one percent of the Tech Tax on tackling online abuse.
• An independent process with meaningful sanctions to be established to deal with allegations of violence and harassment in political parties and in local government. Where appropriate these should be referred to the police.

Being in the room where decisions are made matters. Women’s increased political participation makes it more likely that decisions made will benefit everyone, including the most marginalised women and girls in the UK and beyond.

Signed by:

Helen Pankhurst CBE, Convenor, Centenary Action Group

Seyi Akiwowo, Founder and Executive Director, Glitch

Sam Smethers, Chief Executive, Fawcett Society

Faeeza Vaid MBE, Executive Director, Muslim Women’s Network UK

Sarah Childs, Professor of Politics and Gender at Birkbeck, University of London

Laurie Lee, Chief Executive, Care International UK

Marchu Girma and Natasha Walter, Directors, Women for Refugee Women

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, UK Women’s Budget Group

Joeli Brearley, Founder, Pregnant Then Screwed

Nicki Norman, Co-Chief Executive, Women’s Aid Federation of England

Sophie Walker, Chief Executive, Young Women’s Trust

Jennifer Nadel, Co-Director, Compassion in Politics

Jessica Blair, Director, Electoral Reform Society

Charlotte Carew Pole, Founder, Daughters’ Rights

Farah Nazeer, Deputy Director of Advocacy, ActionAid UK

Lynne Stubbings, Chair, National Federation of Women’s Institutes (The WI)

Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Women in Leadership publication

Rachel Krengel and Aisha Ali-Khan, Women’s March London

Lee Chalmers, Director, The Parliament Project

Catherine Anderson, CEO, The Jo Cox Foundation

Shaista Gohir OBE, Co-Chair, Muslim Women’s Network UK

Frances Scott, Director and Founder, 50:50

Julie Siddiqi, Co-Founder, Nisa-Nashim Jewish and Muslim Women’s Network

Laura Marks, Co-Founder, Nisa-Nashim and Alliance of Jewish Women

Tara O’Reilly, Chair, Women in Westminster

Cerys Furlong, CEO, Chwarae Teg

Anna Ryder, Not the Job Campaign

Catherine Fookes, Director, Women’s Equality Network

Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin

Bee Rowlatt, Mary on the Green

Willie Sullivan, Director, Electoral Reform Society Scotland

Liz Dominey, Chair, Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland

Professor Anna Birch FRSA

Mandu Reid, Leader of the Women’s Equality Party

Abena Oppong-Asare, Chair, Labour Women’s Network

Baroness Jenkin, Women2Win, Conservative Party

Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

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