Satveer KaurA new councilor who has served the community as a councilor for 13 years says she has faced “extreme” online hate since winning her parliamentary seat.
Satvir Kaur is the former leader of Southampton City Council and has held public office since 2011.
She won the Southampton Test seat at July’s general election, but Ms Kaul said that since then she felt she had “attracted all the misogynists, racists and haters” online.
She was interviewed on BBC Radio Solent’s Hot Seat programme.
Host Louisa Hannan asked Labor MPs: “Sadly, we know that women in politics get a lot of abuse. Have you ever experienced that? I mean, I know it’s still It’s too early.
Ms Kaul responded that the situation was “extreme” and that racist abuse “continues on an almost daily basis”.
“It’s more than I thought it would be. I mean, you always understand when you’re in the public eye,” she said.
“As a politician, suddenly you become less than human – when all you really want to do is make a positive difference in people’s lives.
“I got that to some extent when I was an MP and parliamentary leader, but I feel like since I’ve been an MP – especially online – I feel as though I’ve attracted all the misogynistic people. , and all the racists out there and all the haters.
But Ms Kaul said the hatred actually “emboldened” her, adding: “I want other people from disadvantaged areas and brown girls to feel that if I can do it, they can do it too.”
She added that she has a zero-tolerance policy on social media accounts and if anyone is abusive or makes personal comments, they will be blocked immediately.
She explained: “Sometimes I bite, but I really try not to respond and ignore it because I don’t want it to play.
“I don’t want to spread hate, there’s enough hate out there. I talk to people at the door and one of the things they really care about is hate crimes, and I don’t want to spread hate crimes.”
