Australian MP's condition improves after alleged car attack

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   Australian MP's condition improves after alleged car attack

   BBC NewsPublished Oct 24, 2026Checked Oct 24, 2026

   “Helen Haines had both her legs amputated after what authorities say was a deliberate attack The condition of Helen Haines, the Australian MP hit by a car five days ago in north-east Victoria, has improved from critical to serious but stable. The independent MP, 65, had both her legs amputated after what authorities say was a deliberate attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta, north-east of Melbourne, on Monday. In the latest update on Saturday morning, the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne said Haines was in a serious but stable condition, the first improvement since she was airlifted there. Her alleged attacker, 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, was arrested shortly after the incident and has since appeared in court on three charges. The politician's husband, Phil Haines, said on Wednesday that the "horrendous incident" had caused his wife significant injuries but "her heart and her mind" were "in good shape". Shock and disbelief: How the attack on an Australian MP unfolded in a small rural town Nugent, who was arrested moments after he allegedly drove his Toyota LandCruiser into the MP, appeared in court to face three charges: dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing harm to a Commonwealth public official. Police said more charges might be laid, including attempted murder. His lawyer said his client had "mental health concerns" but did not give any further detail.”

2. 2

   The Gendered Representational Costs of Violence against Politicians

   Perspectives on Politics (Håkansson)Published Jul 26, 2023Checked Oct 24, 2026

   “Women face more harassment and intimidation as politicians than men, but little is known about how this affects representation. I develop a theoretical framework for studying the gendered costs of political violence for descriptive, substantive, and symbolic representation. Testing the framework using interview and survey data on Swedish women and men politicians, I uncover the costs of violence against politicians in all three dimensions empirically. Violence makes women more frequently than men consider leaving politics and enforces male-coded characteristics for political candidates, affecting prospects for gender-diverse descriptive representation. Substantive representation is harmed by violence silencing feminist debates and obstructing women politicians’ policy debate activities. Women’s symbolic representation is threatened by violence coercing women to decrease their visibility.”

3. 3

   Violence Against Politicians Drives Support for Political Violence Among (Some) Voters: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

   Public Opinion Quarterly (Nai et al.)Published Jan 1, 2025Checked Oct 24, 2026

   “We investigate whether a real-world episode of physical violence committed in October 2023 against Thierry Baudet, leader of the Dutch far-right FvD, conditioned a differential support for political violence among different voters: voters ideologically close to the target of the attack (in-group) and voters experiencing partisan Schadenfreude toward the party of the target (out-group). The unexpectedness of the attack makes it an excellent case of exogenous treatment in a natural experiment ("Unexpected Event during Survey Design). The fact that the attack occurred in the midst of a survey unfolding a rolling cross-section design yields likely more robust estimations than usually found in similar natural experiments. Our results indicate that the attack against Baudet slightly normalized political violence in the short term. While no specific uptick of support for violence was measured among respondents close to the FvD, in the short and medium term the attack furthermore slightly increased support for violence among respondents who dislike the FvD and experience partisan Schadenfreude.”

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   The Cost of Doing Politics? Analyzing Violence and Harassment against Female Politicians

   Perspectives on Politics (Krook & Sanín)Published Jul 2, 2019Checked Oct 24, 2026

   “Yet conceptual ambiguities remain as to the exact contours of this phenomenon. In this article, we seek to strengthen its theoretical, empirical, and methodological foundations. We propose that the presence of bias against women in political roles—originating in structural violence, employing cultural violence, and resulting in symbolic violence—distinguishes this phenomenon from other forms of political violence. We identify five types of violence against women in politics—physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and semiotic—and three methodological challenges related to underreporting, comparing men’s and women’s experiences, and intersectionality. Inspired by the literature on hate crimes, we develop an empirical approach for identifying cases of violence against women in politics, offering six criteria to ascertain whether an attack was potentially motivated by gender bias. We apply this framework to analyze three cases: the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, and the murder of Jo Cox. We conclude with the negative implications of violence against women in politics and point to emerging solutions around the globe.”