Let's talk about bullying. We know it happens. A lot. Almost everywhere you look. In homes. In schools. On the streets. Online. In Parliament.
Bullying is the misuse of power, physical, verbal, or psychological by one person with greater power toward a person or persons with lesser power, where that second person is in a lessor position by virtue of inequity of physical strength, financial assests, or dependency and trust.
One of the first things I learned years ago in my attempt to help a woman who had temporarily escaped her physically abusive husband was the pervasive effects of that abuse. As a part of the physical imposition of his will, he had so controlled her physical reality that her cognitive ability, her capacity to make decisions, to apprehend reality, was impaired. Proper treatment would have required exhaustive time to bolster and rebuild her integrity. Alas, we didn't have that luxury of time and she went back to that darkness.
We've heard a great deal about bullying among everyday folks. 'White ribbons' and 'It's not OK' are important raisers of consciousness. What's needed is a look at the bullying among and by the people we endow with power greater than our own. Let's talk about parliamentarians and bullying for a change.
If evidence is needed that bullying knows no partisan limit we have the Francis report of allegations of bullying by Labour's Meka Whaitiri, National's Maggie Barrie and Independent Jami-Lee Ross. The real problem is the lack of transparency and accountability. Only parliamentarians have seen the report. And the report is not an 'investigation' and has no serious further consequence. Unless and until the report is made public or an investigation is launched, these alleged bullies can claim innocence.