India has had the world’s most powerful woman prime minister in Indira Gandhi for 16 years, yet Indian women politicians have never had it easy. Somehow, their male peers and netizens love to hate them, making survival a challenge amidst such toxic misogyny. From Jayalalitha to Kanimozhi, Mohua Mitra, Sushma Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman and now even President Droupadi Murmu, no one has been spared.
Even according to an Amnesty International study, Indian women politicians face substantially higher abuse on social media platforms than their counterparts in the US and the UK. In fact, one out of every seven tweets mentioning them is problematic or abusive, with many women targeted by a relentless flow of threats and sexist, religious, racist and casteist slurs.
The Troll Patrol India study trained volunteers to sift through the tweets mentioning these 95 women between March and May 2019. Of the seven million tweets which mentioned them, a sample of 1.14 lakh was analysed. They found that 13.8% of the tweets had problematic or abusive content.
Abusive tweets had content that promote violence against or threaten people based on their race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliation, age, disability or other categories. They include death threats and rape threats. Problematic tweets contained hurtful or hostile content, often repeated, which could reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes, although they did not meet the threshold of abuse.
The study found that during the elections, there was a significant decrease in abuse in English, while it remained constant in Hindi. Hypothesising that this anomaly was due to tools and measures adopted by Twitter during the poll dates, Amnesty India urged the social media company to enhance its safety tools and recognise that colloquial slang and abuse in other languages in English script often slip below its radar.
“It is not the role of each woman to individually ensure her safety in public space,” noted Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi. “For example, if a woman steps out in public transport, it is the government’s role to ensure that they are safe there. Similarly, if there is a woman who is accessing social media on Twitter, it is the responsibility of the platform to ensure that it is a safe and secure space for women.”
For women, being expressive on social media is as much a challenge as being in largely male-dominated politics.
Let’s take a look at women politicians who have been at the receiving end.
Sushma Swaraj
The then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was on the receiving end of a vicious troll attack for helping an interfaith couple who were allegedly harassed by a passport officer. One of the most popular ministers of the first Narendra Modi-led union cabinet, she had made a name for herself by helping those who had reached out to her on Twitter for passport and visa issues was called ‘Visa Mata’ by trolls after she transferred a passport department official for allegedly humiliating the inter-faith couple.
Kanimozhi, DMK
She has been called an “illegitimate child” of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. She was also trolled for her association with the 2G spectrum case. “Being in active public life calls for a lot of patience. Whatever is being said (about you) should be taken with a pinch of salt. I actively voice my opinion on social media platforms. Just because I get trolled, I won’t stop voicing my opinion. Trolls are cowards, they can’t face people in reality, that’s why they take this route to put people down. We need stronger laws,” she was quoted as saying, adding that “women who are in public life are easy targets, and the only way to handle trolls is to ignore them.”
Tamilsai Soundararajan, Governor of Telangana
She has been trolled by cyberbullies for her “curly hair and dark skin.” “No woman has gone through what I have faced. I have been called a ‘karakattakar,’ she said.
Khushbu, BJP
No one likes her guts. From professional, the attacks against her have often been personal, talking about her kids and family. She was called an opportunist for joining the BJP. Online bullies targeted the actress-turned-politician alleging she has ‘hidden’ her real identity to make political gains. But calling them out and that too in style, the southern star tweeted out, saying “YES I AM A KHAN,” asking trolls to wake up to face a 47-year-old fact.
Mohua Mitra, TMC
This TMC member is perhaps the favourite target of cyberbullies. They have ripped apart both her professional and personal life. She was even trolled for what someone thought was hiding her Rs 1.5 Lakh Louis Vuitton bag during the price rise debate. In response, she posted a collage of her pictures with her handbag and tweeted, “Jholewala fakir in Parliament since 2019.
Jhola leke aye the…jhola leke chal padenge…(Came with a bag, will leave with it).”
Jholewala fakir in Parliament since 2019.
Jhola leke aye the… jhola leke chal padenge… pic.twitter.com/2YOWst8j98
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 2, 2022
In the latest case, No Country Should Get Such A President’ Tweet against President Droupadi Murmu by Congress leader Udit Raj, the National Commission for Women has him a notice asking him to appear before the Commission in person on October 10.
Here is what NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said:
His statement is not just against a woman but a constitutional head of govt. Has she been targeted because she is a woman? Comments made are condemnable, have issued notice. The derogatory language used is shameful: NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma pic.twitter.com/WYgqOfEOQa
— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2022
