3. Violence against Women in Politics

Legislation to increase women’s political participation is encouraging, but full gender equality in government remains challenging. This is an issue impacting countries from across the globe, for example Canada only achieved Senate gender parity in 2024. Monitor-assessed countries like Bolivia, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Sri Lanka and more recently, Ghana have passed legislation to promote gender parity in the government and in parliaments. In Bolivia, the success of the 2010 Plurinational Electoral Body Law resulted in the country becoming the second in the world with the highest percentage of women in its national assembly. Indonesia, for example, mandates 30% female political candidates.

However, representation rates are still low: Sri Lanka’s 225-member parliament had only 12 women in 2022; Indonesia’s gender parity was 17.5% in 2014; and South Africa’s provincial politics had 43% female representation in 2019. More efforts are needed to empower women in politics. The Global Pluralism Monitor shows that having women in politics hasn’t reduced violence against women (VAW) and that violence against women in politics is rising. Canada and Colombia illustrate cases where women who become involved in politics often receive gendered threats due to their political participation.

This trend is concerning for pluralism, as political participation is crucial for belonging and ownership. Violence against women in politics signals exclusion when they engage in these processes.

GO BACK TO THE BLOG HOME