I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs over five years. For the first time, I’m now working for a woman MP, and the kind of messages sent to her online are shocking.

“Hey, what are you up to tonight?”

“Is that your boyfriend?”

It’s 9.37pm and I assume my MP has had the gall to go out in public, as these messages have just appeared in her Facebook inbox. Surprise, surprise: It’s from a man.

I’m a little worried, so I let her know that she’s under surveillance by a presumably creepy dude.

“Bitch”

It’s 9.50pm. I think he’s a bit grumpy that he hasn’t had a response. The messages continue for a few days, growing grumpier and nastier. Thankfully, he eventually gets bored and the messages stop.

This sort of thing goes with the job if you’re a Member of Parliament who happens to be a woman, especially if you’re young, especially if you have a profile.

“Bullshit slut”

It shouldn’t be.

I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs for around five years now. This is the first time I’ve worked for a woman.

My job title is Executive Support and Research. It’s a pretty complex job: I balance the diary, conduct research, produce comms material and do pretty much anything else my MP needs. This includes managing and responding to traditional letters and emails; it also means dealing with the wonderful world of Facebook messages – the one part of her social media where my MP has relinquished control to me.

The most jarring difference between working for a male MP and working for a female MP is these Facebook messages. I shudder to think what she receives on the likes of Instagram and Twitter.

Click here to read the full article published by The Spinoff on 14 January 2019.