‘It could be your next-door neighbour’: how female MPs cope with misogynistic abuse

Nicola Sturgeon: ‘Social media provides a vehicle for the most awful abuse of women, misogyny, sexism and threats of violence for women who put their heads above the parapet.’ Photograph: Reuters

The brutality of political life had taken its toll on her, said Nicola Sturgeon as she announced her resignation on Wednesday. That same day, a 42-year-old man was jailed for sending her an email saying she was going to “face a hanging” for treason. Two weeks earlier, a 70-year-old man was found guilty of threatening to assassinate her.

It may come as no surprise, then, that Scotland’s outgoing first minister recently described the environment for women in politics as “much harsher and more hostile” than at any time in her decades-long career.