Democratic Women’s Caucus Statement on House Passage of Resolution to Censure Rep. Gosar
November 17, 2021
CONTACT: Michelle Moreno-Silva
Washington, D.C. – Today, Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Co-Chairs Congresswomen Jackie Speier (CA-14), Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Vice Chairs Congresswomen Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) issued the following statement on the House passage of H.Res.789, Censuring Representative Paul Gosar, which was introduced by DWC Co-Chair Congresswoman Speier. The resolution comes on the heels of Congressman Gosar (AZ-4) posting an edited video on social media depicting himself murdering Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and attacking President Joe Biden.
“It is deeply concerning that after the horrific events of January 6th, a Member of Congress would post such an abhorrent, divisive, and dangerous message that could easily trigger further violence,” said the Members. “The vile video posted by Congressman Gosar promoting the killing of his congressional colleague, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and an attack against the President of the United States is a clear example of why so many women, especially women of color, are discouraged from running for office, seeking leadership positions, and participating in public life. The Democratic Women’s Caucus condemns violence against women in all its forms and we hope that the passage of this resolution will serve to ensure that no Member of Congress will ever again promote such hateful and violent rhetoric.”
Research shows that women public figures are disproportionately impacted by harassment online. A 2016 survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union found that 82 percent of women parliamentarians have experienced psychological violence and 44 percent received threats of death, rape, beatings, or abduction during their term. Another report by The Wilson Center entitled “Malign Creativity: How Gender, Sex, and Lies are Weaponized Against Women Online,” analyzed 13 female politicians: six in the U.S. House of Representatives and two in the U.S. Senate, three of them Republicans and five of them Democrats. They also included Vice President Harris and Governor Whitmer, plus three women politicians from New Zealand, the UK and Canada. Over 330,000 pieces of abusive content shared by over 190,000 users in late 2020 on six social media platforms showed how gendered abuse and disinformation – often racist, transphobic or sexual in nature – threaten women online. And a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue examined online abuse targeted at congressional candidates and found that during the 2020 election cycle, women candidates on average received 12% more abusive comments on Facebook than their male counterparts. Abusive messages on Twitter made up more than 15% of the messages women candidates received, compared to 5-10% for male candidates. Candidates who are women of color were even more likely to experience this abuse online, with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez receiving the highest proportion of abusive comments on Facebook. Too often, online abuse is also followed up by in person threats and harassment, underscoring the urgent need to address violent online content.
H.Res.789 passed the House of Representatives on November 17, 2021, by a vote of 223-207-1 present.
###