“We need to break the cycle of political violence against people in public office, especially against black and global majority women.”
By Claudia Turbet Delof
The last few weeks has seen the biggest outpouring of support we have witnessed in recent years for a member of parliament, it is one for Hackney’s local MP Diane Abbot, a trailblazer and reference point for many.
Diane Abbott truly is the people’s MP.
The alleged comments made by Frank Hester and reported in the Guardian are not the first of its kind that Diane Abbott has been subjected to. As a local Councillor, relatively new, elected in May 2022 I can attest to how life in public office can come packed with layers of challenging, often I believe bullying behaviour, especially from your opposition.
I’m a mental health therapist and the current Mental Health Champion for the London Borough of Hackney. I have been shocked – and saddened- to have witnessed repeated behaviour that can be felt as intimidating, lacking compassion, kindness and respect amongst elected members. I have witnessed mockery against elected members whilst in Full Council, a tool I believe used as a way of rejecting and belittling a colleague’s political stance.
At its worst, I have also seen it happening against residents that have made their way to the Council exercising their democratic rights to voice their concerns through deputations or questions asked in Full Council.
Political violence comes in many forms, and we have normalised it, not just in local government but clearly in the British Parliament too. Diane Abbott’s abusers are not just those of the likes of Frank Hester through his reported racist comments and wishes to ‘shoot her’, Diane’s abusers are also all who choose not to denounce the disgusting violence and death threats she has received, all those who choose to keep quiet and not speak up for black women in our borough and beyond, those who choose to keep the safety of their political seat instead of showing up in solidarity for women, more specifically, for black women.
So there doesn’t seem to be hope for equality and justice with the vast majority of members of Parliament, yet we can’t really wait any longer. We need to break the cycle of political violence against people in public office, especially against black and global majority women. We need to bring a law that protects women in public office from all forms of political violence and political persecution, including and not limited to psychological, abusive, bullying and harassment behaviour.
Not only will this new law ensure the safe participation and representation of women in public office but it will also ensure that public and democratic funded spaces such as councils and parliament will adhere to this new legislation, reducing in turn a significant time currently spent by elected members in mockery, belittling language, and bullying behaviour.
Diane has endured years of abuse, and so I feel strongly that this is now enough evidence to create this new law, similar to what was enacted in my native Bolivia.
Back in 2012, Bolivia enacted a groundbreaking legislation ‘Law 243’ that sanctions acts of harassment and political violence against women in public office with up to eight years in prison for harassment and psychological abuse, this law came after an indigenous woman Councillor Juana Quispe was murdered by her then colleague Councillors and a then municipality Mayor, she had reported the continued factional harassment, mockery, censorship and discrimination experienced but received no support. After years of campaigning, all perpetrators have been sentenced in January this year.
I am determined to fight for this law to come into force in the UK. Enough of the political persecution of incredible women leaders like Diane Abbott, the people’s MP, and many others experiencing daily abuse. Words matter, and they matter because they can have a profound effect on a person’s view of self and their mental health.
It is our generation’s responsibility to shift historical cultures of aggressive, belittling, racist, sexist, classist, colonial practices from daily life, public and government spaces.
We must live a life free from political violence.
We must bring humanity back into political life.
- Claudia Turbet Delof is a Councillor in Hackney South and Shoreditch. Claudia is an also an organiser for Wiphalas Across the World (Bolivia). You can follow her on Twitter/X here.
- You can sign a Restore the Whip to Diane Abbott petition addressed to Keir Starmer here.
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