Female councillors subjected to harassing calls with sexual comments, AILG says

Female councillors targeted by abusive calls, Association of Irish Local Government warns

The public is being urged to stop making abusive calls to local representatives after a rise in reports of "disturbing and inappropriate sexual comments" directed at female councillors.

The Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) said it is seriously concerned after being made aware of multiple incidents involving repeated calls from an individual who has subjected female elected members from across the political spectrum to persistent and distressing harassment.

"To date, AILG has received reports only from female councillors, indicating that this behaviour appears to be a targeted campaign of harassment against women serving in local government," the organisation said. 

Head of operations Elaine Lynch said AILG had received no reports of male councillors receiving similar calls.

'Targeted campaign of harassment'

"The calls have generally come from withheld or private numbers and have contained disturbing and inappropriate sexual comments,” Ms Lynch told RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Thursday.

“What's particularly concerning to us is that the reports have come from different local authorities and political parties and that suggests to us that women are being specifically targeted here. In one reported case, after answering a call, a female councillor received a further 16 calls within the space of an hour," she said. 

As a result of the reported incidents, AILG said it had contacted all 959 female councillors, urging them to prioritise their safety.

"Our message has been to advise and prioritise the safety of our female members, tell them to exercise caution with withheld numbers, we're telling them not to engage with callers, to try and not answer any private or withheld numbers and to obviously record details of any incidents, particularly the time log and reporting to their local Garda liaison officer," Ms Lynch said. 

“The reason why we're going public with this is because it's important for us that women councillors know they are not facing this alone and to just call it out for what it is, which is a direct attack on our local democracy and specifically on our women in our local government system, which is just not acceptable," she said. 

Appeal to the public

Ms Lynch acknowledged that councillors' contact details are publicly available on local authority websites, which she said was one reason for issuing the public appeal.

‘We're asking members of the public, where possible, please don't contact your female representative from a withheld or a private number; if you can, leave a voicemail, a text message, an email and use the published contact details available via their local authority," she said. 

“Public representatives have to be accessible to their constituents, and that's a hugely important part of their role. Anybody I've spoken to directly, their main concern has been that their constituents probably can't access them as easily now because they're being extra diligent for their own safety," Ms Lynch said. 

She said the overwhelming majority of people engage respectfully with their local councillors every day and "I think that's something we shouldn't lose sight of."

Support for women in local government

"I think that's important to say, but what I would say is there's been a huge amount of work being done by the representative body like ourselves AILG, we've set up a national regional caucus network which is about leadership development, mentorship networking opportunities specifically for female councillors so they have support there and I think with local government we're actually entering a really exciting period," she said. 

“The parting message I want to give to women that might be listening: don't let the actions of one individual discourage you from public service. I've witnessed the incredible women that we have, and I get to work with them every day and see what they achieve. So we need more talented women at the council table, so if you do choose to run for election, just know on the other side there are so many supports, including from AILG, if you do choose to serve your community," Ms Lynch added.