New Zealand lawmakers tell of guns, Molotov cocktails in harassment study

New Zealand lawmakers are commonly threatened, and live with attacks on their homes and other harassment, according to a study out Friday.

Researchers from the University of Otago and a local health authority surveyed the country's 121 Members of Parliament (MPs) about harassment and 102 responded.

Eighty-seven percent reported being targeted by unwanted harassment, which ranged from disturbing communication to actual physical violence, the researchers said Friday.

Thirty-one percent of lawmakers reported having had their property damaged, including having a bullet or a brick bullet thrown through a window of their home and a caravan being set on fire.

Half of MPs had been personally approached by their harassers, 48 percent had been directly threatened, and 15 percent had been attacked.

Some of the incidents involved weapons such as guns, Molotov cocktails and blunt instruments.

"What we found was the politicians were quite resilient themselves about being harassed, but were much more likely to be distressed if it was their family or a member of their staff who was targeted," Dr Susanna Every-Palmer, of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, said in a statement.

New Zealand MPs were a lot more accessible than those in other countries, researcher Dr Justin Barry-Walsh said in the statement.

"From talking with politicians they clearly treasure being available, but it is coming at a considerable cost. It's a small place, people know where their local MPs live," he said. Endi