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Not Just Sticks and Stones: Psychological Abuse and Physical Violence among U.S. State Senators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2021

Rebekah Herrick  and
Sue Thomas Open the ORCID record for Sue Thomas [Opens in a new window]
Rebekah Herrick
Affiliation:
Oklahoma State University
Sue Thomas
Affiliation:
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
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Abstract

In this study, we report results of a survey of U.S. state senators about their experiences of psychological abuse, physical violence, and sexualized abuse and violence on the job, as well as gender differences among senators. Overall, our results indicate that more than 80% of state senators reported having faced abuse and violence, and women senators reported more physical violence than men. Moreover, we found differences in the factors that contributed to abuse and violence among women and men state senators. Most notably, women with higher levels of power (party or committee leaders) were more likely than other women to experience psychological abuse and sexualized abuse and violence, and Democratic women senators faced more sexualized abuse and violence than Republican women. The implications for continued service by state senators in the face of these experiences, the likelihood of attracting future candidates, and the implications for gender diversity in office are explored.

Keywords

GenderU.S. state senatorspsychological abusephysical violencesexualized abuse and violence
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 422 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

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