Today a major new report outlines some urgent steps that MPs believe would make the House of Commons a fairer and more appealing place. Among the findings of the All Party Parliamentary Group Women in Parliament, top of the list is the need for a "zero tolerance response" to unprofessional and sexist behaviour in the Commons. Here, Sky's Anushka Asthana reports straight from the 'bear pit' (AKA the Commons) on what life is like for women MPs:

"Knickeeers…" came the first holler. "Knickeeers…" Another male voice drifted over. Soon a throng of men had joined in, snorting with laughter, as they waved their papers and jeered in the direction of a female colleague.

It sounds like a school playground, but you'll have guessed by now it's not.

No, this is the House of Commons Chamber where Britain's 650 MPs gather to debate the policies that affect our lives. It is a room that some female MPs nickname "the bear pit'' and that others describe as "macho", "brutish" and "testosterone-fuelled". A place where one confident woman politician tells me she suffers from a "shaky leg" and another compares standing up to speak to "rock climbing without ropes".

DEBATE OR DAMAGE?

Lisa Nandy was the newly elected Labour MP for Wigan when she entered a heaving Chamber full of boisterous MPs, jammed shoulder-to-shoulder, ready for the coalition's first Budget in 2010. The only space was on the steps of a gangway – not the best choice in a skirt, she soon realised, as the shouts began.

"The Chamber can be awful," she says. "It puts people off. The first time I stood up to speak, there was a wall of noise."

Lisa was surprised at the insults – including personal jibes such as "you're too fat".

It isn't always like that, she says, but the air of calm debate evaporates when partisan MPs, itching for a fight, pack on to the green benches for high-profile events. Most agree that Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), every Wednesday, is the worst part of the week. According to Lisa, David Cameron's "juvenile" behaviour infects the atmosphere. And certainly his "calm down, dear" quip to a Labour shadow minister in 2011 irritated many female MPs.

MP Pat Glass has described the "gladiatorial" culture as the hardest thing she has had to cope with since becoming MP for North West Durham. And Sarah Champion, representing Rotherham, calls it a "pantomime". Sarah, who has a psychology degree, blames the structure of the room: "It's divided into two teams, facing each other, rallying their leaders." And Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah agrees: "It suits people who are confident, aggressive and confrontational."

So do these rowdy clashes put young people – and especially women – off going into politics?

The Commons Speaker John Bercow – who chairs the debates – thinks so.

He says several female MPs are avoiding PMQs because of the behaviour: "It is a real problem. A number of seasoned MPs, who are not shrinking violets, not delicate creatures, are saying, 'This is so bad that I am not going to take part'."

Yet some say it isn't a gender issue, and that schoolyard bullying is fired in all directions.

For example, at a recent PMQs, 'neeiighhs' started up when Nadhim Zahawi (a Tory MP who claimed electricity on expenses to heat his stables) stood up to speak. In addition, whenever the young-looking Tory Ben Gummer makes his arguments, he does so over shouts of "does your mother know you're out?"

And, at times, the behaviour crosses anyone's line of respectability, like when Paul Maynard, a Conservative MP with cerebral palsy, said his disability was mocked.

Yet women in the Chamber do seem to be disproportionately picked on.

"It is very hard not to sound shrill," explains one female MP – describing how men lift their hands into the air and yell "woooooo" if she raises her voice. And it is not just in the Chamber. She asks why newspapers publish articles about her nail polish colour while never commenting on a male colleague's tie?

Worse are the YouTube videos of the 'sexy legs' of shadow ministers Luciana Berger and Gloria De Piero.

Lisa Nandy has also been hit on this front, causing a Twitter flurry with her 'low-cut' top. "Criticising things like hair, weight, what you're wearing is the norm," she says.

Another MP tells me that this behaviour would never be acceptable in any other workplace, but in politics you can't show any weakness. Her quandary is that she finds the Chamber "petrifying" but doesn't want to put women off politics by saying so.

But then there are those who love the experience. Labour MP Sharon Hodgson says a packed room means more people to listen to her arguments. She also thinks women MPs should talk more about the benefits of their career.

And Tory MP Amber Rudd describes the atmosphere as "exhilarating" – like being on the front row at a football match. "You have to be able to make an argument in politics – and convincingly," she says. If you can't, a different career might be more appropriate, she argues. "If it is a bad policy it'll be destroyed in the Chamber. But if it's one that you are proud of – that can be a success – it will thrive."

To anyone wondering if they could make it in Westminster, her message is simple: "Don't let it put you off. The Chamber is a test of policy – an essential part of politics."

Shaping the debate: Why is the chamber so rowdy?

Professor Alan Penn believes a number of features contribute to the rowdiness: the oblong shape, the "too small" size – forcing MPs to cram in – and the "face-to-face" layout, with fronbenchers sitting just a couple of yards from their opponents.

Prof. Penn, dean of the Bartlett faculty of the built environment at UCL, says that the architects of the House of Commons Chamber knew that the result would be adversarial.

Barracking is inevitable, he says, because the speaker can't see their own side – so noise is the only way for backbenchers to offer support.

"The nearest comparisons are to a playground or football stadium," he adds. The first is replicated by "peer pressure" and "pack mentality"; the second by the way MPs are in 'teams'.

If it was a circle in a larger room it would be different, he concludes – pointing to the civilised debates in the UN: "A circle is more democratic; everyone is equal."

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