Dhaka: Speakers at the 136th assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) here on Saturday stressed the need for increasing women’s participation in politics, empowering girls and making parliaments more gender-sensitive ones.

The IPU women parliamentarians from different countries raised the problems they are facing inside and outside parliaments noting that some 82 percent of women MPs are being subjected to psychological violence across the world.

“The women MPs from IPU member countries focused on three issues to reduce inequality. The issues are the rise of women participation in politics, empowerment of girls and making parliaments more gender sensitive,” IPU media relations officer Jean Milligan said.

The five-day IPU assembly is being held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

IPU Director (Division of Programmes) Kareen Jabre at a press briefing in the afternoon presented the findings of a new study conducted by IPU in 2016, which showed that sexism, harassment and violence against women MPs are global problems that impede gender equality and undermine the foundations of democracy.

The IPU study is based on in-depth interviews with 55 women MPs from 39 countries covering five regions of the world. It shows the troubling level of psychological, sexual and physical violence.

The study reports that 81.8 percent of survey participants have experienced some forms of psychological violence.

Among them, some 44 percent said they had received the threats of death, rape, beatings or abduction during their parliamentary terms, including threats to kidnap or kill their children.

Sexist insults are equally frequent as 65.5 percent of respondents declared to have been subjected to humiliating comments on repeated occasions during their mandates.

Sexual harassment is described as a ‘common practice’ with 20 percent saying they had been sexually harassed during their term, while 7.3 percent said that someone had tried to force them to have sexual relations.

The levels of physical violence are also significant as 20 percent responded they had been slapped, pushed, struck or targeted by an object that could have injured them, and 12.7 percent said someone had threatened to use or actually used a firearm, knife or other weapon against them.

About the study, IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong said, “This is a survey of a small percentage of women MPs, but it makes clear that the problem is much more widespread and under-reported than we realise.

The parliamentary community must speak out against sexism and harassment and make clear that it cannot be tolerated as the price to be paid for women’s political involvement.”

Social media is the main channel where psychological violence is perpetrated as the experience of one European MP shows: “One time, over a period of four days, I received more than 500 threats of rape on Twitter.” 

Or as one Asian parliamentarian recounts: “I receive information about my son – his age, the school he attends, his class, etc. – threatening to kidnap him.”

Women MPs describe daily condescension and sexism expressed through inappropriate gestures or sounds.

A European parliamentarian put it this way: “If a woman speaks loudly in parliament she is ‘shushed’ with a finger to the mouth (…). That never happens when a man speaks loudly.”

IPU’s study called upon parliaments to define and apply robust policies and mechanisms to deter such behaviour.

“Parliaments need to put their own house in order if they want to lead by example and stop discrimination and violence against women in all walks of life. The effectiveness of parliaments, progress toward equality between men and women and the vitality of democracy itself all depend on it,” said Martin Chungong.

The global average of women in national parliaments is 23.3 percent, up from 22.6 per cent a year ago. At this pace, it will take another 50 years to reach gender parity in parliament, according to the IPU.

IPU’s report concludes that this global phenomenon is creating obstacles for women MPs to carrying out their work freely and securely. Its figures also clearly show the resilience of these MPs - 80 per cent of those that have been victims of sexist violence said these acts will not undermine their determination to fulfill their parliamentary mandate, nor will they prevent them from running for another term.