As the prominence of women in politics increases, so does the incidence of violence against women in politics. This section highlights news, interviews, resources and events on violence against women in politics
Violence Against Women: What can parliaments do to protect women?
Watch the fourth in a series of short videos on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This video shares some shocking facts about violence against women and outlines steps that parliaments can take against this scourge.
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While women have made significant inroads into politics in recent years, their involvement has spurred attacks, intimidation and harassment in many parts of the world, says Mona Lena Krook, a professor of political science at Rutgers University-New...
Veronica Tsitsi Muzenda is a Member of Parliament from Zimbabwe.
This interview was conducted in October 2019 in the margins of the the 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Belgrad.
Violence against women in politics involves a broad range of harms to attack and undermine women as political actors. Its central motivation is to exclude women as a group from public life.
Click here to see the database.
Around the world, women are targeted by violence because of their commitment to vote, their jobs as electoral officials and their aspirations to hold political office. NDI categorizes this kind of violence as “violence against women in elections” (...
Observers say female candidates systematically threatened with physical, sexual violence to deter them from running.
Luz Polo was at a campaign event when she said a man sent by criminal groups broke down the doors of her home in the small western...
For over three decades, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has worked to advance good governance and support all citizens’ rights to participate in credible elections. We recognize that violence against women in politics is a...
This article presents a conceptual orientation to the intersection of gender, politics, and violence. The first part of the article will introduce the subject by reviewing the primary conceptual framework and empirical knowledge on the topic to date...
Violence against women in politics is a substantial threat to the integrity of the electoral process, affecting women’s participation as voters, candidates, election officials, activists and political party leaders and undermining free, fair and...
Violence against women in politics is a substantial threat to the integrity of the electoral process, affecting women’s participation as voters, candidates, election officials, activists and political party leaders and undermining free, fair and...
On October 20, 2018, Afghanistan held its long-delayed national parliamentary (Wolesi Jirga) elections. Overall, the election demonstrated how combined factors of insecurity and political instability, widespread impunity for and high rates of...
Many women face exclusion, discrimination, harassment and acts of psychological and physical violence when they join politics. A 2016 study by the Inter-parliamentary Union shows that 82% of women MPs surveyed experienced acts of psychological...
For more than one year, the groundbreaking #MeToo movement and related Time’s Up initiative have broken taboos and sparked an unprecedented global conversation about the sexism, harassment and violence many women face in professional environments....
Recent years have witnessed a troubling rise in reports of assault, intimidation, and abuse directed at politically active women. The United Nations General Assembly first called for zero tolerance for violence against female candidates and elected...
By Joseph D. Lyions,
The record number of women running in the midterm elections highlights two huge issues facing not just the United States, but societies around the world — one, a lack of gender parity in the halls of power, and two, a key...
UN Women, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), and the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (Special Rapporteur), in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the...
In July 30, Zimbabwean citizens head to the polls for general elections. Candidates are competing for the presidency and seats in the National Assembly, Senate, Provincial Councils, and urban and rural authorities.
Former President Robert Mugabe...
Women comprise almost 53 percent of the population in Haiti. Yet, this numeric majority does not translate into effective political representation. Only three seats out of the 119 in the Chamber of Deputies are currently occupied by women. In the...
