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STORY: UN / VIOLENCE AGAINST PARLIAMENTARIANS
TRT: 03:52
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 FEBRUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“A report entitled When the Public Turns Hostile: Political Violence Against Parliamentarians. I term it a very important report in the sense that the findings in this report are very disquieting. And if the phenomenon we are describing here is allowed to go uncontrolled, this will have major repercussions for democracy worldwide, good governance, and generally the human rights of the political class in the world."
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“First of all, overall, 71 percent of those we surveyed, both globally — I mean in the five countries — report having experienced violence from the public, whether online or offline or both. Two, violence is heavily concentrated online, with between 65 and 70 percent of MPs in the five countries reporting online abuse. The most common forms of public intimidation reported by the Members of Parliament are insults and degrading language, the spread of false or misleading information, and threats. Most respondents believe that the situation is deteriorating. In Argentina and the Netherlands, eight out of ten MPs, up to 80 percent, reported an increase in violence over the past five years.”
6. Wide shot, press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“Online violence is frequently triggered by elections, high-profile legislative debates or polarizing political or cultural issues. Women are more affected than men. 76 percent of women MPs across the case studies presented in this report reported exposure to violence, compared to 68 percent of men.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“When we look at the situation in the United States, which then are revealing, we see that the phenomenon is very acute, where we are seeing more attacks against politicians and even their families. For example, in Pennsylvania, the governor, Josh Shapiro, was targeted by an arson attack last year. The husband of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was physically assaulted in his home recently. And just a couple of weeks ago, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was physically attacked at a town hall event where she was speaking.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU):
“This phenomenon has the potential to impact negatively on democracy. We can see clearly that increasing public hostility has serious consequences, not only for the safety and well-being of the individual lawmakers, but also for the functioning of Parliament and the quality of democratic debate. Many lawmakers we surveyed report that they are self-censoring online, being more careful about what they say in public.”
12. Wide shot, end of press briefing
71 percent of lawmakers globally report having experienced violence from the public, “whether online or offline or both,” according to a new report on political violence against parliamentarians issued by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union speaking at United Nations Headquarters in New York today (11 Feb) outlined findings from the report entitled When the Public Turns Hostile: Political Violence Against Parliamentarians, which examines rising intimidation and harassment of elected representatives by members of the public.
He said, “violence is heavily concentrated online, with between 65 and 70 percent of MPs in the five countries reporting online abuse.” The report draws on a survey of hundreds of parliamentarians and five in-depth country case studies in Argentina, Benin, Italy, Malaysia, and the Netherlands.
“The most common forms of public intimidation reported by the Members of Parliament are insults and degrading language, the spread of false or misleading information, and threats,” Chungong said. “Most respondents believe that the situation is deteriorating. In Argentina and the Netherlands, eight out of ten MPs, up to 80 percent, reported an increase in violence over the past five years.”
He added, “Online violence is frequently triggered by elections, high-profile legislative debates or polarizing political or cultural issues.” According to the findings, “Women are more affected than men. 76 percent of women MPs across the case studies presented in this report reported exposure to violence, compared to 68 percent of men.”
Referring to the United States, Chungong said, “When we look at the situation in the United States, which then are revealing, we see that the phenomenon is very acute, where we are seeing more attacks against politicians and even their families.” He cited an arson attack targeting Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, an assault on the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a recent physical attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar during a town hall event.
Chungong warned, “This phenomenon has the potential to impact negatively on democracy.” He said increasing public hostility has “serious consequences, not only for the safety and well-being of the individual lawmakers, but also for the functioning of Parliament and the quality of democratic debate.”
“Many lawmakers we surveyed report that they are self-censoring online, being more careful about what they say in public,” he added.
The IPU, headquartered in Geneva, is convening its annual Parliamentary Hearing this week at UN Headquarters in New York, co-organized with the Office of the President of the General Assembly. The meeting is expected to bring together around 250 participants, including approximately 150 Members of Parliament from around the world.
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