Violence Against Women in Politics

Recently, elected women from France, Canada, Scotland and Israel, to name a few examples, publicly condemned misogynist and violent political cultures. Not only did they expose acts of harassment and violence in politics, they made the case that violence should not be the price of participating in politics. Violence against women in politics (VAWP) limits women’s political opportunities and discourages or prevents them from exercising their political rights, including their rights as voters, candidates, party supporters or public officials.

VAWP can occur during electoral campaigns, but not only: as women assume various political positions, they may, for example, be pressured to resign from their posts on the basis of gender, or verbally threatened  or intimidated because they are women in politics; and VAWP may take many other forms, including in sexist stereotypes and images portrayed in the media, which, particularly in the digital age, focus on women’s bodies, sexuality and traditional social roles, rather than their competence, capacity and contributions as leaders. 

Please click here to read the full concept note of this e-Discussion.

Click here to access the consolidated reply.  

This e-Discussion seeks to bring the experiences of the iKNOW Politics community into this growing dialogue on VAWP. Please join us in the e-Discussion from 22 August to 16 October 2016.

Questions

1. What is violence against women in politics, and what forms does it take? What are its key drivers? Is VAWP particular to specific countries, regions, cultures, or institutions?
2. Who are the perpetrators of VAWP, and what are their motives? 
3. What are the consequences of VAWP on women, society and democracy?
4. Are there any successful mechanisms/instruments to expose acts of VAWP (e.g. reporting, services for victims, rules of conduct)?
5. Who has responsibility to address VAWP, and what types of partnerships are necessary to do so successfully?
6. Can you identify any specific legislation, programs, trainings, studies, and awareness-raising campaigns, which help prevent punish and sanction political violence against women? 

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