NDI Brief to the Canadian House Committee on the Status of Women

On 7 May 2018, the Canadian House of Commons, Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) invited the public to submit written briefs for the Committee's study on Barriers Facing Women in Politics. The Committee was particularly interested in: barriers in the candidate recruitment and selection process, male-dominated networks and mentorship opportunties; and barriers in the House of Commons, such as party discipline, gender-biased media treatment and inequity in professional development and support. In 2016, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) launched the #NotTheCost campaign, a global call to action to stop violence against women in politics. Its title reflects the fact that many women are told that harassment, threats, psychological abuse, physical and sexual assault are “the cost of doing politics.” This program was designed to bringtogether the stakeholders, networks and advocates involved in currently regionally segmented discussions about the problem. For the last two years, NDI has been working to challenge this claim by raising awareness, collecting information and building capacity among our partners in order to eradicate this phenomenon. On 5 July 2018, NDI submitted its’ brief to the Committee addressing the problem of violence against women in politics specifically and provided solutions to address the problem in support of its campaign.