Over the last few decades, gender equality in political life and public offices has grown substantially, bringing with it a host of positive effects for women, democracy and society.  However, as more women have emerged as activists, elected leaders, officials and voters, they have encountered increasing levels of harassment, intimidation, psychological abuse — in person and, increasingly, online. This backlash discourages women from engaging politically, creates a serious barrier to their ability to freely and safely pursue their rights to political participation, and undermines democracy.

Violence against women in politics fits within the international definition of violence against women.  It encompasses all forms of aggression, coercion and intimidation against women as political actors simply because they are women and is used to control, limit or prevent women’s full and equal political participation. This violence is both physical and psychological in nature, and includes the growing trend of cyberbullying and other forms of online violence. Women who are victims of violence may know their attackers, or the perpetrators may be unknown — even anonymous or acting across national borders, in the case of online violence.

While political violence happens against both men and women, violence against women in politics targets women because they are women, in ways that apply particularly to women (e.g., sexual violence and sexist attacks), and discourages all women from political activity, with a particularly negative impact on young women or new entrants to politics.

The map shows the number of incidents reported per country through our report form. 

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