Councillors To Have 'How-To' Guidebook On Staying Safe From Abuse

Thursday, 1 May 2025, 7:10 pm
Article: RNZ

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A representative group for local government is launching a 'how-to' guidebook to help elected members stay safe ahead of this year's local elections.

It comes as the government launches a toolkit of its own to help women and their employers navigate online harm.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) says the abuse and harassment of elected members has been increasing, and councils were concerned about a potential chilling effect on people standing in local elections this year.

Chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said the abuse was both online and in-person, and ranged from threats of physical harm to being harassed and intimidated in public.

"We're seeing elected members pick their kids up from school and get abused, we're seeing them in the supermarket get abused and threatened, and we're seeing threats to families. So, it is tipping beyond normal engagement that our elected members all expect.

"Our elected members and councillors have a really high threshold of tolerance...It's really important they are at the front line of their communities. They want to know what their communities say and think and feel - what we're talking about here is when it tips into the next level of intimidation, threats, aggression and abuse that stops them doing their job."

Freeman-Green said she had spoken to people who were intending to run for council this year who had witnessed the abuse and harassment that some elected members receive, and as a result were thinking twice about putting their hand up.

"They start asking themselves 'do I really want a job where my family might be subjected to abuse and threats from the public?'" she said.

"We know that people are thinking about this a lot and we just want to keep encouraging people to stand. Local government makes decisions that affect our lives every single day. It is such an important, fundamental place in our democracy and we need good candidates.

"In an election year, we want really good people to stand and we want them to feel safe when they do."

She said the amount of abuse, its seriousness, and frequency was all increasing.

"It's much easier to do so online these days and we've had a pretty tough environment across the piece in New Zealand and through Covid, and all of these things contribute."

The guide is being launched this morning at an all-of-local government meeting, with mayors as well as council chairs and chief executives gathering in Wellington.

It includes strategies on how elected members and candidates can stay safe online, including risk mitigation such as separating public profiles from private ones, and using a new phone number or PO Box for their campaigns.

A section on staying safe in public contains scenarios on what to do in a tense public meeting or when approached in a public place by an upset member of the public or Sovereign Citizen (as well as the options they can take if behaviour approaches the legal definition of harassment), and how to mitigate risks at home.

Government launches toolkit to help women address online harm

Minister for Women Nicola Grigg planned to announce a toolkit the government was launching to help women and their employers address online harm.

However, she was unable to attend in person due to severe weather and flight cancellations, and instead addressed the meeting via teleconferencing.

The toolkit, developed by the Ministry for Women in collaboration with Netsafe, includes interactive educational modules, practical resources, and real-world case studies from women in leadership and public-facing roles.

Grigg said research showed the alarming impact abuse and harassment on social media was having on women, particularly those in the public eye, including self-censoring, avoiding digital platforms, and having less contact with the public.

"The prevalence of online harm has become a serious issue, disproportionately impacting women who are in the public eye. The growing phenomenon of online abuse has the very real potential to deter women from stepping into leadership roles and engaging in public and political life," she said.

"We know from the data and evidence that many many women are deterred and turned off from these kinds of careers and jobs because of the prevalence of the online harm they're facing."

Grigg said the toolkit was based on the Harmful Digital Communications Act, giving advice to employees and employers to recognise and know when to act.

"And then courts obviously then have a responsibility to act on it as well and instruct any takedowns that may be necessary."

Freeman-Greene said LGNZ was "delighted" the government had released the toolkit.

"It's vital that women leaders - who are in the spotlight across a range of sectors - have tools to combat abuse and harassment. It's clear from our survey data that women are particularly at risk of gendered abuse," she said.

She noted it was not just women elected members who were facing abuse.

While most of the day's discussion topics will be around infrastructure funding, Freeman-Greene said it was important in an election year for candidates and elected members to also feel safe from harm.

Building and construction minister Chris Penk and local government minister Simon Watts are also expected to speak about their portfolios in the afternoon.

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