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]