UK Politicians share me too' stories in wake of Weinstein scandal
While one admits men were always hitting on her when she first joined Parliament, another reveals she was assaulted by her boss.
Four female UK politicians have joined a growing number of women who are speaking out about the abuse they have suffered as a part of the ‘me too’ campaign that has taken social media by storm.
While Baroness Jenkins admitted that men used to hit on her all the time when she first joined the Parliament as a secretary in 1970s, another Tory politician revealed than an MP stroked her neck while she drove her car. Labour MP Mary Creagh went on to reveal that she was sexually abused as a child in the playground and even had her bottom pinched by a priest as a teenager.
Even Labour MP Jess Phillips had her boss try and assault her while Tory MP Theresa Villers had to fend off groping hands at a Tory function in the 90s.
Speaking to Mail Online, Maria Miller, chairwoman of the women and equalities select committee, said that she experienced more abuse as an MP than in her 20-year advertising career.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Baroness Jenkins, now 61, said, 'Men used to hit on you all the time. They would say, "I had a dream about you last night"... these things affect people differently.” She went on to add that she hopes it is not a common thing today.
The Tory peer founded the Tory Women2Win campaign to boost the number of female MPs.
Labour MP for Wakefield Creagh too was attacked as a seven-year-old in her school playground. Speaking to the newspaper, she said that she had
Ms Creagh, the Labour MP for her underwear torn off during a game of kiss chase and was sexually assaulted by about 12 older boys. The MP said she only spoke about the incident for the first time around a week ago when she was speaking with friends about the Weinstein scandal.
Creagh was further assaulted by a parish priest when she was 16. She also recalled a teacher who had given her a lift drove her to his house and turned off the lights before trying to kiss her.
The Wakefield MP said that female MPs used to face sexual harassment and humiliation in the Chamber, with male MPs making crude melon jokes about them.
Villiers told The Daily Mail that she had to fend off groping hands at a Conservative function and Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, recalled her boss trying to assault her after a night out before she became an MP.
The 'Me Too' campaign, on its part, has seen millions of women from around the world coming forward to speak out against sexual abuse with testimonies of rape, sexual assault and harassment, at the hands of men.