Globally, more women than ever before are taking part in politics. However, with the growth in women’s political engagement, an increased frequency and degree of violent responses have emerged that prevent women from accessing their right to engage in politics and public life fully and equally. Conducting an assessment of violence against women (VAW) in political parties is essential to understand how it affects women’s participation in political life and what measures are needed to combat and eliminate violence. 

This research shows that female representation in political parties in North Macedonia has a long way to go. When paired with the under-representation of women in state functions, the problem seems less than encouraging. The quota system adopted for women’s representation in parliament and local councils is only scratching the surface. Declarative support does not yield the desired effects.  When it comes to implementation, the question emerges whether the political parties recognize the importance and impact of increased women’s representation on the party, the institutions, and society.  While everyone agrees that under-representation and violence against women politicians exist and are highly prevalent even in advanced democratic communities, not everyone is ready to admit or accept this form of violence or that change must come from within political parties.  

Political parties in North Macedonia lack fundamental protections for women members, activists,  and political representatives. Party statutes or codes of conduct are silent on gender-based violence,  including harassment, coercion, defamation, and physical or psychological violence. Party officials  — female and male — admit to not recognizing unacceptable conduct as violence towards women but rather tolerate violent behavior as the “cost” of engaging in politics.  

The practice of unpacking the notion of violence during focus group discussions was of great educational and transformative value. It tangibly encouraged more respondents to share their direct or indirect experiences with violence as political party members. At the same time, it was also indicative  of several important conclusions: 

● That certain forms of violence are difficult to identify, particularly in cases when there are no  traditionally recognizable signs of abuse; 

● that limited awareness of the broad range of acts that constitute violence may have direct  implications for outcomes such as reporting; 

● that little awareness of covert forms of violence may normalize their occurrence and trivialize  the magnitude of the psychological consequences for the victim. 

Ultimately, the female political party women who participated in this research expressed a willingness,  regardless of party affiliation, to prevent, educate, and protect women.