Today is meant to be a day of hope, when women and men across the UK exercise their right to vote for which political party they want to run the country for (hopefully) the next four years. It is a day to implement change, dictate the future, make our voices heard and influence the government.
However, it seems a select few individuals are using the 2017 General Election as an opportunity to spread hate, abuse and racism.
Yesterday, Women's Equality party candidate Nimco Ali received a death threat in a letter filled with abhorrent racist abuse which was signed off with the name of the late Labour Party politician, Jo Cox, who was murdered last June.
According to the Guardian, police were called to the party's office, where workers are reportedly being 'inundated with abusive and threatening calls' in the lead up to the election', with one man even calling them to say he was 10 minutes away and the employees should be scared.
Describing her feelings about receiving the death threat at the party's headquarters, Hornsey and Wood Green candidate Ali – who is also a campaigner against female genital mutilation – revealed to the publication: 'I've received abuse before for my campaigning work, but a death threat is different. It's too much – I am strong but I am not superhuman. You don't agree with me, fine. But don't threaten to rape me.
'They are targeting me because I am young, black and loud, I guess – but I am standing for good things. I want the world to be a better place. We have to show there is more love in the world than hate,' she added.
Catherine Riley, head of communications, told the newspaper the party's main office has received a 'vituperous response' to the party's direct mailout to potential voters earlier this week which contained the contact details of the headquarters.
'We've had dozens of calls from men shouting that we have enough equality, that we are idiots. It ramped up during the day,' she revealed.
'This is a general election – it is not right that this is happening. It's not what politics should look like. It shows the desperate need for more diverse voices, and the reason why those voices are bullied out of the public sphere,' she added.
Following the news of the death threat, Catherine Mayer, who founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015 with broadcaster Sandi Toksvig tweeted: 'This is what happens to women who dare to take a little space for themselves. This is one reason there are far too few women in politics [...] Two of [the party's] core goals are to increase female representation and end violence against women and girls. This illustrates how vital they are.'
Meanwhile, WEP leader Sophie Walker tweeted her support for Ali, writing:
And she wasn't the only one:
The news comes amid reports a man who tweeted asking someone to 'Jo Cox' Conservative MP for Broxtowe, Anna Soubry, last year has been given a suspended jail sentence and up to 10 weeks in prison.
Such disgusting behaviour is not on, people.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
