There are currently no
commonly agreed definitions about the concept of VAWE. The study of violence
against women (VAW) and gender-based violence (GBV) has often neglected the
political dimension. Political and election-related violence, on the other
hand, has been barely analyzed from a gender perspective. The lack of clear
definitions of VAWE, as well as the absence of standard indicators to measure
its extent, makes it hard to develop a comprehensive framework for the analysis
of this issue. Deepening understanding of VAWE requires exploring standard
electoral violence definitions from a gender perspective and analyzing the
scope of specific forms of violence suffered by women in the political sphere,
compared to men’s experience of political violence. Some key definitions on
these issues, extracted from UNDP and UN Women’s guide, can be found bellow.[1]
- Violence against women (VAW) is the
manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between men and women
in private and public life. It is characterized by the use and abuse of power
and control over women, and it is a form of discrimination that seriously
violates and impairs the enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms. VAW can happen in different contexts, including the
family, the community and the State.[1]
- Gender-based violence (GBV) refers to violence directed against a person because of his or
her gender and expectations of his or her role in a society or culture. In the
context of political and election-related violence, the concept of VAW is more
commonly used than the broader notion GBV, which can include other kind of
violations, such as child marriage or childhood sexual violence.[2]
- Violence against women in politics (VAWP) is any act of, or
threat of, gender-based violence, resulting in physical, sexual, psychological
harm or suffering to women, that prevents them from exercising and realizing
their political rights, whether in public or private spaces, including the
right to vote and hold public office, to vote in secret and to freely campaign,
to associate and assemble, and to enjoy freedom of opinion and expression. Such
violence can be perpetrated by a family member, community member and or by the
State.[3]
- Election-related violence is generally considered
as a form of political violence. UNDP defines electoral violence as “acts or
threats of coercion or physical harm perpetrated to affect an electoral
process, or that arise in the context of electoral competition. When
perpetrated to affect an electoral process, violence may be employed to
influence the process of election, such as efforts to delay, disrupt, or derail
a poll, and to influence the outcomes”. According to the United Nations Policy
Directive on Preventing and Mitigating Election-related Violence (2016),
election related violence “is often designed to influence an electoral outcome
and therefore the distribution of political power.”[4]
- Violence against women in elections (VAWE/VAWiE) is a form
of violence against women intended to impact the realization of women’s
political rights in an electoral context. This includes women’s participation
as candidates, voters, activists, party supporters, observers, election
workers, or public officials. VAWE can adopt multiple forms, including
psychological abuse and intimidation, sexual attacks and physical violence.[5]
According to Mona Lena Krook and
Juliana Restrepo, activists throughout Latin America contributed to
define the concept of “political violence and political harassment against
women” [violencia política y acoso politico hacia las mujeres], working
inductively from their experiences and observations. The concept first appeared
in 2000 in Bolivia, “where a long grassroots campaign culminated in legal
reform in 2012.” The Bolivian case was key to later developments, in three
respects: “giving a name to this phenomenon, highlighting psychological
alongside physical forms of abuse, and developing legislation to criminalize
these behaviors.” [6]
The Expert
Group Meeting held in March 2018 by UN Women, the Office of the High
Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, its causes and consequences (SRVAW), showed that consensus is
starting to emerge in this area. The Expert Group Meeting’s report and
recommendations provide an overview of the state of the art regarding VAWP. It
addresses causes and consequences of VAWP; international, regional and national
frameworks; programmatic aspects in the prevention and mitigation of VAWP; and
measurement and monitoring of this phenomenon. Some common understandings in
the study of VAWP were summarized in the words of Mona Lena Krook: “ [VAWP]
targets women because of their gender; its very form can be gendered, as
exemplified by sexist threats and sexual violence; and its impact is to
discourage women from being or becoming politically active.”[7]
VAWP and VAWE are
underreported phenomena, since “victims may be afraid to speak publicly and may
face additional disincentives if they report incidents, e.g. political
backlash, defamation, family impacts, marginalization within their own parties,
showing weakness, receiving criticism that they are not up to the job, or the
humiliation and frustration of not being taken seriously by the police.” [8]
A central part of VAWP (and VAWE) is victim-blaming, “as men and women attempt
to reinstate a challenged hierarchy of power and governance.”[9]
In her 2018
report on violence against women in politics, the SRVAW outlines her
conclusions and recommendations on preventing and combatting such
manifestations of GBV. A central aspect is the lack of data and standard
indicators to measure the incidence of VAWP and VAWE at all levels. These acts
of violence are generally treated as isolated incidents, instead of as the
result of structural and widespread discrimination against women in public
life. VAWP “is often normalized and tolerated, especially in contexts where
patriarchy is deeply embedded in society.” One of the recommendations issued by
the SRVAW in her report is to collect and monitor data on VAWP nationally and
design prevention strategies accordingly.[10]
In 2018, iKNOW Politics
held an
e-discussion on Violence Against Women in Politics, which analyzed
some under-researched aspects of this phenomenon, such as the causes behind the
high levels of prevalence of VAWP all over the world, the reasons for low
reporting rates and strategies to counter VAWP on social media.[11]
[1] UNDP and UN Women
(2017): op. cit., p. 20.
[2] UNDP and UN Women
(2017): op. cit., p. 20.
[3] UNDP and UN Women
(2017): op. cit., p. 23.
[4] UNDP and UN Women
(2017): op. cit., p. 21.
[5] UNDP and UN Women
(2017): op. cit., p. 23.
[6] Krook, Mona Lena and
Restrepo Sanín, Juliana (2015): “Gender and political violence in Latin
America. Concepts, debates and solutions.”
See:
mlkrook.org/pdf/pyg_2016.pdf
[8]UN Women, OHCHR and SRVAW
(2018): op. cit., p. 15.
[9] UN Women, OHCHR and
SRVAW (2018): op. cit., p. 9.
[1] UNDP and UN Women
(2017): op. cit., p. 20.
