The blind hatred that some have against Sigrid Kaag is out of all proportion. No one has to agree with her. Anyone can criticize her for cabinet policy and party choices. Has the right to denounce D66. The right to hold power accountable.
But the way in which Kaag – and with her a trio of female politicians – is treated has little to do with expressing criticism. In the eyes of some, Kaag stands for everything they detest: a woman, a leader, a progressive politician, a Randstad resident who believes in globalization.
Read also: Woman, progressive and suburban image: ingredients for the hatred towards Sigrid Kaag
The former seems to be the greatest sin in some conservative circles. More than 10 percent of all tweets aimed at female politicians contain hate or aggression, with Kaag even 22 percent appeared two years ago from research The Green Amsterdammer and the Utrecht Data School. And the woman who complains about that muck – which now also has a physical dimension – is called a ‘bitch’ and deemed unfit for politics.
Men are also intimidated and threatened. Rob Jetten and Thierry Baudet were visited at home, Geert Wilders has been living with heavy security for years, and several ministers have a police station in front of the door. Almost half of the local and provincial administrators and representatives of the people report that they have been confronted with aggression or violence. It has long ceased to be isolated incidents or emotional outbursts of which the criminal nature is difficult to demonstrate.
The chilling effect of this is already visible: party leaders do not announce, or shortly in advance, that they are going to campaign somewhere. But visibility and approachability, also for voters who do not belong to their own constituency, are part of Dutch politics, of a society that does not want politicians to entrench themselves in the concrete tower of the temporary Binnenhof.
It is to be commended that Kaag continued to talk to the protestors in Diepenheim, some of whom seemed to have valid grievances. They could have conveyed it without flaming torches, without blocking the road with tractors, and without extremely unfriendly language. Their condolences – ‘we don’t do anything, we just want to talk’ – were nullified by the references to the torchbearer who visited Kaag’s home last year and was sentenced to five months in prison for that.
It is right that the intimidation that took place in Diepenheim has been condemned by almost all parties. By pretending that this is part of politics, the step towards physical violence becomes smaller. But the specific misogyny that Kaag, the Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema or Member of Parliament Sylvana Simons share, must also be mentioned and rejected.
Because if it is apparently an objection to some instigators that women have political power, then an attempt is being made here to get them back behind the counter. The intimidation can be a barrier for young women to also aspire to a public position. To broach certain topics, especially on social media – and invisible politicians don’t make a career. Like the physical threats, this should not be normalized.
The provincial leaders of the VVD and GroenLinks were also present in Diepenheim on Sunday. The two men were not given a “warm welcome” with torches.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of February 22, 2023