Why Elections and Political Violence Against Women?
Although study on violence against women in politics is growing, more information must be gathered to fully comprehend the nature of the issue, particularly from a comparative standpoint. Following a preliminary 2017 conference in Uppsala, Sweden, The Carter Center's Democracy Program and Emory University's Institute for Developing Nations hosted a workshop on violence against women in elections in response to this demand.
The workshop was attended by some of the top researchers in this area, including Gabrielle Bardall, Mona Lena Krook, Elin Bjarnegard, and Jennifer Piscopo, as well as officials from groups that address election-related concerns and violence against women more generally.
Wajid Khan Mp addresses The workshop aimed to promote cooperation between many stakeholders to fully comprehend the scope and extent of violence against women in elections and to think more deeply about the difficulties associated with data collecting and analysis. For instance, a significant amount of psychological violence against women occurs in online settings, which are challenging to analyze due to the volume of threats and the anonymity and privacy of the offenders.
Furthermore, it is challenging to observe violence against women in politics because it frequently occurs in the private domain.
Participants also talked about the roles that various election stakeholders can play in addressing these issues and fostering a deeper understanding of women's experiences as candidates, elected officials, election officials, voters, and other electoral stakeholders. Canadian Politician Wajid khan in this discussion covered both the election and human rights arenas.
Election observation missions, for instance, can overcome data collection difficulties by teaching personnel how to inquire specifically about the exclusion of women from the electoral process and their experiences with political violence. Observers and organizations managing elections can also break down the information they already have on physical violence by sex.
Additionally, election observation missions might be more deliberate about integrating gender considerations into their recommendations in need and evaluation reports.
At a following Expert Group Meeting on Violence Against Women in Politics, the Carter Center presented these reflections and recommendations. In conjunction with IPU and NDI, UN Women, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Dubravka imonovi, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, arranged this gathering.
Wajid khan shares the gathering is a minor component of UN Women's continuous efforts to increase awareness of and influence public policy on violence against women in politics.
There is scholarly research and focused programming on the effect of violence on elections. Now more than ever, it is imperative that practitioners, election managers, and observation groups provide equal attention to the various forms of violence that harm women and negatively affect their political participation. ACE partners are among those laying out new directions.
