The woman’s not for silencing – women can shape new leadership for Wales

Sarah Rees

Online abuse is being used to push women out of politics. It won’t work. Wales needs women’s voices if we are to build a fairer future

I did not come into politics to be a target. I came into it because I care about people’s lives and because I believe our public institutions should reflect the communities they serve.

Yet in the first weeks of January, I was targeted and doxxed by online trolls, dealing with the real-world consequences of digital abuse.

Doxxing is the deliberate publication of someone’s private personal information online to intimidate or harass. This was not a one-off. It is part of a wider pattern aimed at silencing women in public life. If we allow it to continue, it will change who feels able to speak up in our democracy.

Some politicians exploit social media to manufacture outrage over trivial issues in a bid to stay relevant. At the same time, women in public life face harassment designed to wear us down and push us out. Digital abuse is not a quirk of modern politics. It is strategic, misogynistic, and deeply personal.

Anger that drives change

I am angry that charities I have supported for decades spend hours preparing press releases on serious, real-life issues, only to be ignored in favour of clickbait. I tried to quiet that anger, only to be reminded that this too is shaped by the patriarchy. Women are expected to be polite and restrained, not angry, even though anger can drive positive change.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, I turned my anger into action. I was furious that pregnant women could sit in a pub with their partner, but not together the labour ward. At the time, the rules meant partners could be with friends for a drink but not in the delivery room, and some missed the birth of their children entirely.

I campaigned for dads and birthing partners to be allowed to support their partners during labour because change does not happen through words alone. Equality benefits everyone, and real progress comes through policy, not cheap political point-scoring.

How we keep women active in politics

Too often, the conversation focuses on how to get women into politics, while ignoring the more urgent question of how we keep women there when online abuse has become part of the job. Social media platforms are now tools for harassment, where anonymous accounts and coordinated campaigns target women in politics with intimidation and misogyny, often with little consequence.

Telling women to “grow a thick skin” isn’t a solution. It lets the problem continue. Politics should be about real issues and real people, and we need a Senedd that truly reflects the communities it serves. Diversity matters because it leads to better decisions.

I’ve seen that in action: I helped campaign for cash payments instead of free school meals during lockdown, meaning more than 66,000 children had access to food. I know why this matters because I grew up in poverty and understand the long-term impact firsthand.

Digital abuse is not free speech

As Ann Davies MP recently said in Westminster, digital abuse is not free speech. Yet powerful individuals continue to exploit divisive platforms like X, which the Financial Times has described as “the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter,” to attack and silence women.

The reality is alarming. Anonymous accounts pick women in politics and public life one by one, obsessing over their work and turning them into targets. Politics has become deeply personal, and there must be zero tolerance for digital abuse. This is not robust debate. It is the digital age of gender-based violence.

The impact is both personal and professional. Female politicians already face relentless abuse, and some step down as a result. The consequences for democracy are serious, yet this is too often dismissed as “part of being a woman in politics.” Abuse of women and girls has been ignored for generations, and it damages public life. It includes death threats, harassment that leads to increased security at the Senedd, and constant fear for our own safety and the safety of our children.

Act for the Wales we want

We must speak out and we must act. Women in politics need to be supported, protected, and empowered to make a difference for our communities, our children, and the future of Wales.

I invite everyone who shares my anger to channel it into action. Vote for hope and new leadership for Wales on 7th May. The feminist movement shows that even the most entrenched systems can be challenged when ordinary people stand together.

If politics and social media are being used to intimidate and silence women, we must push back, not by accepting it as “part of the job”, but by demanding accountability. We deserve a politics that is fair, respectful, and focused on improving people’s lives.