Political Stalking
Stalking is prevalent among politicians. In fact, if you’re a politician reading this the chances are you are currently being stalked, or you will at some stage.
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics estimates that ordinary UK citizens have a 15% chance of being stalked in their lifetime. If you’re a politician, there’s an 81% chance you will experience some sort of stalking behaviour from one of your constituents, according to the data of a 2016 survey across UK members of parliament.
The dramatic exposure of politicians to stalking warrants stand-alone, focused attention, from the perspective of those in office (the Silent MP aims to get there…). For now, let’s draw on what we do know about the experience of being stalked in general.
Research conducted in Italy in 2020 on the effects of stalking indicated that women were more likely to be stalked than men. The study also showed that stalking is a subjective experience. Men tend to interpret “repetitive, intrusive, and elusive” behaviour differently to women, who expect to be confronted more violently by stalkers. Consequently, men report stalking to the police later than women, with clear effects on their wellbeing and a longer time-lag in the intervention.
The consequence of stalking is also a subjective and gendered experience. Both men and women experience distressing consequences, yet in different ways. In terms of physical symptoms, men and women in the study expressed similar levels of sleep disorders and headaches. However, men experienced stronger levels of cognitive weakness while women reported more physical injuries to the police.
The emotional symptoms of stalking were found to be relatively similar for both men and women. Yet, men testified to suffering more than women from feelings of anger, confusion, aggressiveness, irritation, lack of confidence, apprehension and fear. In cases of prolonged stalking, other symptoms appeared for both genders such as weight change, fear, and injuries.
The Silent MP talks a lot about the emotional labour of politics, and the role of false face acting on the wellbeing of politicians (false face acting is when a politician appeals to certain emotions at the expense of their own). Add the experience of being stalked to the list of emotions a politician overrides, and you add further incentive to the call for a tailored framework for encouraging politicians to show up, safely, and process the political experience in real time.
Sharing a disturbing type of contact with a constituent may seem trivial, and perhaps weak if you are a male politician. Recent research demonstrates that men and women seem to have different coping strategies. Men tend to ask for help less, and later than women do. Moreover, men tend to think they can handle the problem on their own, risking their own safety in consequence.
On a normative level, we need this sharing in order to cultivate a healthy political society in which politicians are safe to share their inner experience authentically, as something that is not only logical to support effective democratic outcomes, but one that is mandated by citizens who expect their decision makers to be in the best place possible to take the decisions they need to take.
