NEW research conducted in Victoria has found that female councillors are more likely to have negative experiences in local government based on their gender.<\/p>\n
The study conducted by Andrea Carsona, Gosia Mikolajczakb, Leah Ruppannerc and Emily Foley indicates that during election periods and the first year of government, women were more likely to receive negative comments on social media, receive doubts about their qualifications or be ignored.<\/p>\n
The research focused on all 79 of Victoria\u2019s municipalities, where women accounted for 43.8 per cent of elected councillors in the 2020 municipal elections.<\/p>\n
In total, 222 of Victoria\u2019s 621 councillors responded to the survey.<\/p>\n
Young female councillors had the most negative experiences by brough on by groups like the media, social media, and colleges, and women were more likely to say they would not run for council again.<\/p>\n
Mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo, Andrea Metcalf, said she has experienced some of these issues firsthand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe findings of the article are probably not surprising,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is some vitriol on social media about women councillors, like for me it was about my weight and you go that is not important, it\u2019s not impacting how I do my job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know why there is such a scrutiny around how female councillors look; it should be about if they do the job properly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Amy Johnson from the City of Ballarat said the balance of family life and work life can also be a deterrent for women or make their experience more challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my experience women tend to experience greater barriers to election to council and their ongoing participation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften the types of commitments that you need to attend as a councillor will be spread right across the day and if you have a partner who works full time and young children you then need to balance it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there should be more support available for young women.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Metcalf agreed that the balance of work and family life can be difficult for women.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a continual juggle for women and I don\u2019t think men would see it as quite as much trouble,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a Geelong councillor just recently who resigned, and it was around not being able to do the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Metcalf encouraged women to call out negative behaviour and persevere in leadership positions as it gets easier over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorgie Purcell from the Animal Justice Party has certainly called out about what she\u2019s been called, and I think that\u2019s a really important part,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a particular council in metro Melbourne, for their young women that were elected in 2016, not one of them ran for council in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was just thinking you just learnt so much and you really know the role of a councillor and are confident in what you do by the end of your first term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Johnson called on the community to get behind female participation in council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really passionate about encouraging female participation in local government and have over a number of years encouraged a range of different women to put up their hand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to see more support in Ballarat for women to stand for local government because it can be very challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW research conducted in Victoria has found that female councillors are more likely to have negative experiences in local government based on their gender. The study conducted by Andrea Carsona, Gosia Mikolajczakb, Leah Ruppannerc and Emily Foley indicates that during election periods and the first year of government, women were more likely to receive negative […]<\/p>\n