Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to the attention of this House that COVID-19 is not a gender-neutral crisis. It has exposed an alarming rise in domestic and societal violence against women, especially ethnic, racial, and LGBTQ2+ minorities, nowhere more so than on social media platforms and nowhere more so than against women politicians and journalists.
Globally, 41% of women MPs, and 52% in Europe, have been the target of abusive, sexual or violent contact online, which often threatens death, rape or violence against their families. Online threats have real consequences, such as the assassination of U.K. MP Jo Cox in 2016. In 2019, this event caused 18 women in the U.K. alone to quit as MPs or not run again for Parliament.
It is urgent that parliaments join together with information and communications-based technologies to eradicate online violence and ensure gender safety on the Internet before it undermines democracy and good governance. The time to act is now.