It's heartbreaking, really. As it was, just 32 per cent of members in the last sitting of the House of Commons were women. An all-time high, would you believe?

But of the 58 politicians who have confirmed they are stepping down this General Election as the full list of candidates standing emerged overnight, 18 departures were women. Shamefully, a depressing number cited abuse they have experienced in public office as the main factor in their decision to quit.

Liberal Democrat MP Heidi Allen said she was “exhausted” by the “utterly dehumanising” harassment she had faced. She revealed she had been forced to install panic alarms in her home and is subjected to threats online and – more terrifyingly – in the street.

Dame Caroline Spelman, Conservative minister, said that “intensity of abuse arising out of Brexit” was behind her decision to retire after a 22-year political career. Nicky Morgan and Amber Rudd have followed suit.

This devastating loss of women’s voices in parliament represents a serious threat to the hard-won – yet still marginal – diversification of politics. So says Talat Yaqoob, chair of Women 50:50, a campaign that calls for at least 50% representation of women in parliament, councils and on public boards. She said: “Evidence tells us that diversity makes for better decisions, and surely we want our politicians making the best decisions which will create a better society for those who need the most?

“Lived experience is crucial to this, and we need that lived experience around the decision-making table. The status quo is not working for women, both in terms of representation and, crucially, in terms of decisions being made.”

Of the 40 men standing down, Ms Yaqoob said, many of those are simply retiring.

“From our checks, across the UK, there are proportional numbers of men and women who are current MPs standing down. However, women are more likely to cite abuse and toxic political culture in their reasons for standing down, and a higher proportion of men who are not re-standing are retiring.”

Earlier, former US presidential hopeful and former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, warned of a path to “fascism” after the female MPs stood down, calling the abuse they endure a “threat to our democracy”.

Speaking to an audience at King’s College London, she said: “There was a growing anxiety among women members about the threats they face. I take it very seriously and it is fuelled by these online vile attacks that are out there, but it also breaks into the real world.

“That is not only a threat to individuals but a threat to our democracies. That is the path of authoritarianism – of fascism.”

For Mags Hall, Scottish Greens candidate for the election in Dunfermline and West Fife, these threats of violence towards her colleagues will not make her give up her political ambitions.

“I’m very aware of the aggression that women at Westminster are experiencing,” she said, adding: “I’ve never faced that kind of intimidation – the confrontational politics we’re seeing in parliament and globally that other people have experience of puts them off.

“The political atmosphere is very different in England. It is incredibly heated and you can’t seem to get beyond the Brexit discussion and I think it’s making English MPs the target for a lot of frustration and a lot of anger which is more to do with the political system and lack of democracy in UK-level politics.”

Having women shaping policies and holding open the door behind them is vital for a just political system, she said.

“It’s about representation. It’s about ensuring that 50% of the population have somebody who has a rough idea of their experience – that there is an understanding of the challenges and barriers women face and having those addressed. That’s why it’s important to encourage more women to come forward and stand.

“There is absolutely the need for strong political role models for younger women and girls who are deciding they’d like to get involved.”

Lee Chalmers, founder and director of the Parliament Project, which helps women get involved in politics through workshops and mentorship, said female politicians and candidates need support from their parties and the police.

She said: “It’s not just about online abuse. It’s attacks on offices and, as we know in the case of Jo Cox, much worse. The parties need to be prepared to ensure they do not tolerate this from their members and they act to support the women in any way they need.

“We need to make it safe for women to be MPs, we can’t just shrug and say it’s too much. We need the police to act and people who speak or send abuse to be pursued with the full force of the law. It’s not acceptable.”

From the more than 3,500 women who have attended Parliament Project’s workshops over the last three years, many have mentioned online abuse as a concern but not all are put off, Ms Chalmers said, “especially if they go into it with their eyes open and have strategies in place.”

Even in the face of abuse, women should stand firm, said Ms Chalmers, “to make a difference in their communities, to help lift people out of poverty, to end homelessness – to take responsibility for leading our nation into a positive future”.

SNP candidate for Glasgow Central, Alison Thewliss, is campaigning to hold her seat in Westminster.

She said: “Having done it now for four-and-a-half years, I’m used to the idea [of facing threats] which doesn’t make it any better and it does make me quite nervous. It worries me that so many talented women are saying [politics] isn’t for them.

“It’s important that we do [stay in politics] because if women’s voices aren’t heard, there’s so many things missing from policies and debates and women’s experience has to be part of what politics is in the UK.”

READ MORE: Ordeal of abuse and death threats for Joanna Cherry

Patricia Ferguson, Scottish Labour candidate for Glasgow North West, agrees.

She said: “It crosses your mind – am I doing the right thing? I have every sympathy with those women who’ve felt they had to stand down but I think as women we also have a responsibility to ensure there are other women coming forward and then, eventually, by force of numbers and by changing culture we will make it different for the women who come after us.”

Ms Yaqoob added: “There is no denying that abuse and harassment have an impact on who participates in politics but we want and need a more inclusive and fairer political culture. Our politics should be leading by example and, as it currently stands, it is not. Our parliaments should reflect the society they are meant to be representing.”