‘Cruel and malicious’: sexist attacks dampen joy for Stormont’s new female members

Cara Hunter said the harassment she received had affected her ‘whole family and circle of friends’. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

In a sign of how sexism and misogyny were so embedded in Northern Ireland, official minutes once recorded Ian Paisley Jr shouting “moo, moo, moo” at a female politician.

The outburst against Monica McWilliams in 1997 was part of a boorish, sneering culture that deterred women from entering politics and sought to intimidate the few who dared.