Consultancy: Continuation of the project on the intimidation of MPs by the public

The first phase of the IPU’s global study on intimidation of parliamentarians by the public revealed that public hostility toward parliamentarians is a pervasive, escalating, and increasingly digital phenomenon. It produced new data, case studies, and a global survey that, for the first time, mapped the scale and forms of intimidation against MPs by members of the public. 

Phase 1 highlighted several critical knowledge gaps. First, although many countries and researchers have documented harassment of politicians, there is still no global and systematic monitoring of intimidation of MPs, particularly in real time. Second, anecdotal evidence shows that intimidation affects how MPs work — leading some to self-censor, disengage from the public, or leave politics altogether — the long-term consequences for parliamentary behavior and democratic trust remain underexplored. Third, responses to date have focused little on prevention — tackling the drivers of hostility and fostering constructive engagement between citizens and representatives. Finally, while the gender dimension of political violence is well documented, including through IPU studies on sexism, harassment, and violence against women in parliament, its integration into monitoring tools and institutional responses requires further thinking, bearing in mind that women and other vulnerable groups are often disproportionately targeted.

The second phase of the project will therefore focus on filling these gaps. It will deepen understanding of how online and offline intimidation by the public shapes MPs’ behavior and the functioning of parliaments; explore the political, social, and technological root causes of intimidation; and identify effective institutional mechanisms and good practices for protection and prevention. A key component will be a feasibility study for a Global Tracker on Intimidation of Parliamentarians. The aim is to explore options for a global monitoring mechanism, building on existing initiatives, ensuring integration of a human rights and gender perspectives, and keeping open the question of scope and design. The feasibility study will also examine whether and how to incorporate incidents of state-sponsored violence, whose examination falls under the mandate of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CHRP), and to ensure complementarity with IPU studies on sexism, harassment, and violence against women in parliament. 

Tasks

The consultant(s) will undertake the following tasks under the supervision of the IPU’s Human Rights Programme Manager:

• Advance global monitoring capacity: Draft and test a feasibility study for a Global Tracker on Intimidation of Parliamentarians designed to address the current fragmentation of data. The study will:
  · identify and assess existing national, regional and international monitoring tools;
  · identify opportunities to build on and integrate them;
  · explicitly consider the incorporation of both public and state-sponsored violence, online and offline;
  · embed gender sensitivity and intersectionality; and
  · propose safeguards against misuse (e.g. misrepresenting public intimidation as “worse” than state violence).
• Deepen understanding of impacts: Conduct comparative research on how intimidation shapes MPs’ behavior, discourse, visibility, and policy choices, with particular focus on self-censorship, withdrawal from online platforms, and premature exits from political life.
• Explore root causes: Analyze political, social, and technological drivers of intimidation (polarization, distrust in institutions, algorithmic amplification) and how these intersect with gender, belonging to a historically disadvantaged minority, age, and other such as for example marital status, socio-economic background, level of education…)
• Develop preventive strategies: Apply behavioral and social change theory to design approaches that reduce hostility toward MPs, strengthen norms of civility in political discourse, and promote positive public engagement.
• Mainstream gender throughout: Ensure that national case studies, monitoring tools, and toolkits explicitly integrate the gender perspective and build on existing IPU and other organizations’ research on violence against women in politics.
• Identify and share institutional responses: Collect and compare national legal and politcy frameworks and parliamentary practices (codes of conduct, reporting systems, support services) with a view to compiling and disseminating practical templates and toolkits for parliaments worldwide.
• Examine the role of algorithmic amplification and (non)coordinated online abuse; explore uses of AI and data analytics for threat detection and mitigation; and assess the responsibilities of tech platforms and the effectiveness of existing mitigation and accountability frameworks.
• Conduct new national case studies (in addition to the existing ones in Argentina, Benin, Italy, Netherlands and Malaysia), especially in underrepresented regions, on intimidation of parliamentarians, including by, if needed, travelling to identified countries to interview parliamentarians and other relevant stakeholders
• Contribute to other areas of IPU work, if needed.

The work will involve close cooperation with a range of stakeholders, including:

• IPU staff (in particular from the teams working on human rights, gender equality, capacity-building, youth participation, and the resource centre)
• Parliaments, parliamentarians, including majority and opposition party groups and women’s and youth parliamentary caucuses or bodies, and parliamentary staff
• Academic institutions working on issues related to violence against parliamentarians (or other figures of authority)
• Civil society organizations

Deliverables

1. A detailed 2026 workplan for the continuation of the project.

2. Feasibility study for a global tracker that maps existing initiatives, identifies gaps, and proposes models for sustainable monitoring (with options open as to final form and scope).

3. Comparative policy report analyzing the impact of intimidation on MPs’ behavior and public trust.

4. Compendium of preventive approaches informed by behavioral science and good practice.

5. National case studies in underrepresented regions, ensuring gender-sensitive analysis.

6. Toolkit for parliaments with concrete measures for protection, reporting, and public engagement, building on existing resources but filling identified gaps.

7. Reports and outputs from advisory board meetings and targeted stakeholder sessions.

Duration

The consultant shall be expected to complete up to a maximum of 210 days of work (based on a 7.5 hour day). The consultancy is for the period of 1 November 2025 to 31 December 2026.  Subject to satisfactory performance and the availability of funds, the consultancy may be extended further. 

Location 

The consultant will work remotely, although the possibility of carrying out the consultancy at the IPU could also be looked into. Some travel is likely to be required, for example when researching national case studies or to participate in IPU Assemblies. 

Requirements

• Candidates for the consultancy need to be able to demonstrate:
• Advanced university degree in a relevant field (political and/or social sciences)
• Expertise in issues related to violence against public office holders, ideally parliamentarians. In some cases, relevant expertise in issues related to violence against other figures of authority may also be taken into account.
• Experience in having led complex research projects, ideally on topics closely related to the project at hand.
• Experience in mainstreaming a gender perspective in research work on violence.
• Sound knowledge of statistics.
• Good understanding of the work of parliamentarians and their interaction with the public.
• Excellent reading and writing skills in English. Ability to read and/or speak French and/or Spanish is crucial.
• Knowledge of relevant AI tools.
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team.
• Ability to demonstrate cultural sensitivity.
• Excellent time management and attention to detail.