Serial harassment towards female politicians continues

For Christchurch City Councillors Sara Templeton and Celeste Donovan, online harassment has become something to get used to. They say some comments are constructive, yet a lot are not. Often, they are posted on comments sections of accounts uncontrolled by them, meaning they have no way to police them.

 

Templeton announced her intention to run for Mayor late last year and social media is a key way she is interacting with potential voters. She has delved into the land of TikTok for the first time as a civil servant.

 

"It's quite time consuming," she says.

 

"I take my role in monitoring comments quite seriously, I don’t want things left up there that are derogatory or racist."

 

A video posted on February 28 to Templeton's account shows footage of her taking a tour of the under-construction Te Kaha Stadium. It has garnered over 60,000 views and all comments are turned off.

 

Templeton says she monitors all the comments herself and is forced to block the most vocal harassers. Before the comments were turned off from the video, comments included:

Other comments are bordering on defamation, using emotive language to target characteristics unrelated to their roles as councillors.

 

Donovan shares similar experiences and says there is a trend that harassment primarily targets left-leaning female elected officials. She and other female councillors are lumped together regardless of how they voted.

 

"We're singled out, which appears to be related to the fact that we're women and, in their eyes, left-leaning."

A female community board member, who did not wish to be named, receives emails and verbal abuse from critics. An incident at a meeting last year sparked a lengthy email thread involving multiple Christchurch City Council and ECan councillors.

 

The thread includes various claims targeting her character and family. When male councillors respond to being copied in to the emails, the complainant is far more sympathetic towards them.

 

The board member says council can do little about the situation but the worst offenders are blocked from all relevant social media pages. 

 

"Pleased to say I have learnt to ignore the heckling and insults I get in person now," she says.

 

However, the abuse still finds its way into her inbox.

 

Candidate nominations for the 2025 local body elections open in July.