An unequal toll? The gendered and intersectional impact of violence against politicians in Belgium

Increasing numbers of politicians report being exposed to various forms of violence throughout their political careers (Håkansson, 2023; Phillips et al., 2023). Gender and politics scholars have drawn attention to the gendered nature of this violence, positing that women in politics experience more and/or different forms of violence compared to their male counterparts (Krook, 2020). Intersectionality theory extends this understanding, arguing that intersecting grounds of discrimination (such as race, ethnicity, age, and sexuality) shape experiences with violence and can evoke higher levels and distinct forms of violence as well (Kuperberg, 2018). Various studies thus have illustrated the gendered and intersectional forms of violence targeting politicians. The question remains, however, whether this gendered and intersectional nature also extends to the impact, i.e. whether various groups of politicians are affected differently by the violence they face. This paper delves deeper into this question by analysing the varied effects of violence on politicians. Based on a case study of Belgium, it looks into 1) the impact violence has on the personal level (i.e. on the mental and physical wellbeing of politicians) and 2) how politicians are professionally affected by it (i.e. how it affects their political functioning). To do so, the paper adopts a mixed methods design that integrates survey and interview data. The online survey was disseminated in Spring 2023 across all Belgian federal and regional parliaments and governments, yielding a response rate of 41% (N=214). Subsequently, follow-up interviews were conducted with a subsample of 20 politicians. Both for the survey and the interviews, politicians from diverse political levels, parties, and functions were included, as well as politicians from various socio-demographic backgrounds in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, and language. We hypothesise that, since politically marginalized groups (including women politicians, young (women) politicians and/or politicians belonging to ethnic minorities) are more susceptible to experiencing a higher prevalence of violence, they also endure a more profound impact, both on the personal and professional level, which might result in their premature departure from politics. The paper’s insights contribute to the growing field of gendered and intersectional political violence and enhance our understanding of the individual impact violence has on politicians, as well as the broader consequences it entails for the political equality and democracy.