A female politician told Hillary Clinton she would not stand in December’s general election because she “could not take” the misogynistic abuse.
The former US secretary of state also claimed social media culture was serving the “amplification of hatred” which she said led to the “political assassination” of Labour MP Jo Cox.
READ MORE: 'Abused and dehumanised' female MPs stand down
Mrs Clinton led a panel discussion at Swansea University discussing adversity faced by women, where she highlighted the “intimidation” faced by female politicians.
She said: “Unfortunately, the atmosphere online is heavily misogynistic because apparently the people, and it’s predominantly, though not exclusively, men who spend their time going after women of prominence in whatever field they are in and just can’t let it go.
“What they say is often vile, and when I was in London over the last few days, a number of people told me about women not standing for Parliament this time because of the threats they have received.
“And it’s really particular to them. Threats of death and terrible attacks, including going after their families, in particular mentioning their children.”
Eighteen women said they would not stand for re-election in the December vote, with a number citing personal abuse suffered in office as a reason.
Mrs Clinton, whose grandparents were Welsh, was speaking at the university - which named its law school the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law in 2017.
READ MORE: Women’s equality will be the big loser in this nasty election
She said: “It is a terrible loss and a loss to democracy if anybody is intimidated out of running, and disproportionately the people choosing not to run in the first instance or for re-election are women.”
“All kinds of hatred and bias has been with us from the beginning of time. That is no surprise, but something about the amplification of the hatred attracts even more people.”
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