To protect democracy, we must eliminate violence against women in politics
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women serves as a stark reminder that too many women and girls continue to be the targets of gender-based violence, both online and offline. This viciousness endangers lives, hinders rights and freedoms, and harms human dignity. It also undermines our democracies.
The IPU has been warning since 2016 about the impact of this violence on women in politics. In a global study that year, for example, 82% of women parliamentarians surveyed told the IPU that they had been subjected to psychological violence, including sexist remarks, threats or harassment. In follow-up IPU regional surveys, this ratio held up for women in parliament in Africa and Europe too.
How many more women must get hurt before we fix this problem? Digital tools, including artificial intelligence, are now fuelling online violence that can go beyond the internet. In far too many cases, women MPs are physically attacked. Sometimes, they are even murdered.
When violence drives women out of politics or dissuades them from entering in the first place, then it makes our politics less representative and less democratic too. Parliaments that are less gender equal and less representative will become less effective.
It is in all our best interests therefore to promote parliaments which are gender equal and free from all forms of discrimination and violence against women. This becomes even more critical as we approach the end of 2024, a super election year, in which our preliminary analysis indicates that the gender equality needle has barely budged since late 2023 when women accounted for just under 27% of all MPs.
Parliaments are not powerless, of course. Ambitious gender quotas are a powerful tool, which demonstrably help to sustain and increase the numbers of women MPs. They also send a powerful signal of intent.
Gender equality goes beyond the numbers and attitudes. Women MPs have welcomed internal parliamentary policies and measures, including independent grievance mechanisms and responsive parliamentary codes of conduct to hold the perpetrators accountable, as well as legislation to identify and address violence against women in politics.
Next year, the IPU will publish a comprehensive analysis of women’s participation in parliaments, to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, a landmark global blueprint to advance gender equality and women’s rights. It will also launch a new regional study on sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliament – this time looking at the Asia-Pacific region.
Before that, we can already say that some parliaments are taking this issue seriously making their politics safer and fairer for women. While benefiting their citizens and their countries, these parliaments are showing us the way towards gender-sensitive institutions, free from gender-based violence. They also remind us that there can be no place for violence in democratic politics.
Tulia Ackson, IPU President
IPU President, Tulia Ackson speaks about the scourge of violence against women and girls
