Liberal candidate in marginal Hunter seat calls for end to sexist slurs and abuse

Online trolls have branded her a “bimbo with no brains”. Vandals have torn down her posters. But Liberal candidate Brooke Vitnell is fighting back against the barrage of sexist abuse.

A young female Liberal candidate in NSW has been targeted over her appearance, with vandals and online trolls branding her a “slut” and “bimbo” with “no brains”.

Fearing the barrage of sexual slurs will deter more women from entering politics, Paterson hopeful Brooke Vitnell, 30, called for an end to the abuse, which she said had escalated in the lead up to pre-poll voting opening on Monday.

“Because I’m a bottle blonde and I dye my hair, they’re just savaging me for my looks,” Ms Vitnell said.

“It’s a concerted campaign attacking my physical ­appearance and trying to discredit me, calling me stupid and a slut.”

Ms Vitnell told The Daily Telegraph she had to reprint about 800 posters since the election was called, and had lost more than 100 corflutes on Saturday night alone to vandals, with some being torn down and others graffitied with sexual slurs.

“On the street I’ve had people say show us your tits, don’t talk about policies,” she said.

One of her larger campaign posters in the Labor-held marginal seat in the Hunter Region was reinforced with screws after being stolen six times, which then lead vandals to spray paint male genitalia next to her face.

In another example of horrendous sexist abuse, male genitalia were spray painted on her campaign poster.

Others targeted her online, in comment sections on Facebook and Twitter.

On Facebook Ms Vitnell, who is a solicitor and advocate for abuse victims, has been repeatedly told she will only get votes because of her physical appearance, while others have attacked her as stupid because of her looks.

“I won’t vote for any major party, but I will follow your OnlyFans account,” one Facebook user said. “Good looking with no brains make a good secretary,” another comment said.

Multiple comments attacking Ms Vitnell on social media use symbols designed to refer to her breasts, while others have criticised elements of her face including the shape of her nose and suggesting she “vote #1 Botox”.

Several derogatory comments appeared on the social media pages of Labor MPs, including one Facebook ­comment on an unrelated post by Port Stephens MP Kate Washington, which was soon taken down by the ­moderator.

Ms Vitnell has called out the sexist attacks for deterring young women from entering politics. Picture: Facebook/Twitter

“(Ms Vitnell) looks like a bimbo and needs her roots done,” the person said.

Multiple Hunter and Central Coast political sources said social media comments directed at women in politics in the Hunter and Central Coast had “long been a ­problem”.

Ms Vitnell said after years decrying the Liberal Party for not having enough young women in parliament, “the left” were now resorting to using appearance to attack candidates like herself in “really tight races”.

“I’m pretty tough, I’m resilient but where are the next generation of women going to come from if those following politics are seeing these kind of attacks,” she said.

“Our parliament desperately needs to be more representative of society, and that includes young women.”

Originally published as Liberal candidate in marginal Hunter seat calls for end to sexist slurs and abuse