Harassment of Members of Parliament and the Legislative Assemblies in Canada by individuals believed to be mentally disordered

Abstract

Politicians may be more vulnerable to episodes of stalking than the general population, due to their public personas. Research indicates that perpetrators of such stalking episodes frequently suffer from a mental disorder. This study surveyed how often Canadian Federal and Provincial politicians, who held office in March 1998, had been harassed by individuals believed to be suffering from a mental disorder, as well as the form of the harassment. Four hundred and twenty-four politicians responded to the questionnaire (41.3%). Harassment was experienced by 29.9% of the respondents, with 87% believing their harassers to be suffering from a mental disorder. Both Federal and Provincial politicians were harassed, and overt threats against politicians were frequent. No association between threats in communications and subsequent physical approach was found. In fact, harassers who did not overtly threaten, or who both telephoned and wrote frequently, were shown to more often approach the politicians.

Keywords:

• harassment
• mental disorder
• stalking
• politicians
• public figures
• threats