"A pandemic of online hate" - female politicians in Wales share their experiences
They tell us they're receiving increasing numbers of offensive messages
Female politicians in Wales are telling us they've seen a rise in online hate against them.
Eluned Morgan became the first female first minister of Wales just under a month ago.
There are currently 26 female members of the Senedd including the First Minister.
In an exclusive interview, Baroness Morgan said:
“At the moment I've had an amazing reception actually, but how long will that last?
“I'm not sure.
“I'm very aware that there are some difficult people out there and we (female politicians) have got to be careful.
“I was a friend of Jo Cox of course, who lost her life as a result of a random act
“It is simply not acceptable for people to feel like they've got a right to abuse people in that way, male or female.”
The Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, had her office vandalised and protested outside of in 2023.
In an interview with us, she said:
"I'm a pretty resilient person, I came into politics after having had a career already.
"I've learnt coping strategies over the years in terms of how to deal with abuse and hate.
"But, really, we shouldn't be having it, we don't need it, it's not productive.
"I always say to people: if you want to try and persuade me to a different point of view, hurling abuse at me or vandalising my office is not going to change my mind.
"We need to change the discourse in politics, women politicians and public figures are on the end of it more severely, and we need to change that."
"So there's a big thing to do, a big piece of work to do, but not just by politicians but by the public.
"And that's about trust. We've got to get trust back into politics."
Natasha Asghar is the MS for South Wales East, she told us which platform she receives the most hate on.
After giving a talk at Cardiff University, the MS said she received a huge amount of hate and abuse, both online and in-person.
“I received so much hate it was probably the worst week of my life.
“When it came to it, I was receiving so much hate from people on social media, it was devastating.
“I find on X (formally Twitter) you have an online warriors, you have this crusade against people for the sake of having it.
“There are people who just hate for the sake of hating and some comments are really really, really offensive.
“I mean sometimes I have to tell people like you really wouldn't use this kind of language in your own household, why do you think it's appropriate to use it to people you don't even know?
“I've had someone telling me I should hang myself at one point and that wasn't exactly the most pleasurable comment to receive.
“Having had that comment made about female politicians it's not pleasant, it's a shame but it's the world that we also live in.”
Social media sites such as X, Instagram and Facebook say they have ‘rules’ or ‘terms of use’ that prohibits abusive behaviour online.