So why is it so difficult for these women to be heard? I spoke to the Guardian’s community affairs correspondent, Aamna Mohdin, who worked on the Westwood story, to find out.īefore that, a bit of housekeeping. All of the women are Black, and some felt that racism would lead people to minimise, dismiss or ignore their claims. This week the Guardian and BBC published allegations from seven women against former BBC DJ Tim Westwood.

56 other MPs are under investigation for sexual misconduct.īut it isn’t only about the most powerful women in the country. News broke a few days later that an MP is being investigated after allegations he was watching porn in the Commons chamber. Most visibly, in politics a national newspaper published a story comparing one of the country’s leading female politicians to Sharon Stone’s character in Basic Instinct.