The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has partnered with Fundación Multitudes, based in Chile, to develop this report on “Guidelines for the Construction of a Parliamentary Code of Conduct to Protect Women from Online Gender-Based Political Violence Based on the Experience of Latin America.”

The deliberate spread of harmful and false content online aimed at women in politics and public life is a critical threat to their safety, job performance, and mental health, as well as to the institutions they represent, weakening women’s active participation in the public sphere and threatening the democracy. Our research indicates that there is a need for codes of conduct to safeguard women in Parliament.  

The implementation of codes of conduct in parliaments creates a better process for resolution, significantly reducing possible aggressions between peers. In politics, the existence of a code of conduct can place the issue of online gender-based violence on the agenda, making it more visible and enabling effective action against it. Understanding and addressing this phenomenon is essential to ensuring gender equality in politics and promoting a violence-free parliamentary environment for all individuals. 

A comprehensive desk review was carried out in countries with existing legislation in the Latin American region to review the existence of protocols, legislative work, draft bills, and current bills. These findings were then compared with an analysis of current European Codes of Conducts. The research also conducted interviews with women in politics and social media monitoring of political womens’ accounts.  This research focuses on the experience of Latin American countries to outline recommendations for possible actions and best practices to help prevent and counter digital political violence against women in parliaments. However, the findings are broadly applicable globally as well.

The research also reveals significant barriers to recognizing political aggressions as a form of violence, despite the prevalent use of the term "violence" in the outcome of the research. This underscores the urgent need for a clear typification of online gender-based violence against women parliamentarians. There is notable skepticism regarding the effectiveness of existing codes and regulations in safeguarding women from such violence. Our analysis shows diverse narratives explaining the roots of political violence and discrimination against women in public life. These dynamics are important to consider to address these gaps through the development of robust codes.