Patricia Delille resigned on Wednesday. The institutionalisation of a patriarchal system and the allegations of racism are what we can go by, we see how race and gender intersect in ways that alienate women in politics. We are intrigued by her use of the words “I am free from abuse" which essentially captures the permeation of the prevalent culture of domestic violence into the public sphere. Iman Rappetti talks patriarchal bullying in the political space with political science lecturer Dikeledi Mokoena, former Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille, Commission for Gender Equality's Jabu Baloyi and Stellenboch University associate professor Anita Bosch.