Gender, Women and Democracy

Votes Without Violence: A Citizen Observer's Guide to Addressing Violence Against Women in Elections

Electoral violence subverts basic standards for democratic elections, which are a cornerstone of democratic governance. Violence against women in elections is a particular form of electoral violence, motivated by a desire to prevent women as women from participating in the electoral process, and which sees women attacked for daring to enter or participate in elections.

Women in the News Newsletter | September 2, 2016 - September 16, 2016

Advancing LGBTI Inclusion in Guatemala: “They need to know who we are and that we matter.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the peace accords that ended Guatemala’s 36-year internal conflict that deeply divided the country. However, in the two subsequent decades many of the accords’ goals remain to be achieved in critical areas such as rule of law, social justice, and the alleviation of poverty for marginalized groups including women, indigenous people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities.

NDI's Gender, Women and Democracy (GWD) team has been working in partnership with Thomas Carothers, vice president for studies and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to explore the ways democracy assistance treats the issue of gender equality and women's political empowerment, in various political environments.

New Generation of Women Leaders Take Local Office in Haiti

Rodely Carietane Balde sat down at a table of her peers with a flustered smile,“I was just inaugurated two days ago! I have a lot to do!” After a ten-month period of contestation after the election and a special investigation by election authorities, Balde had learned she would become mayor of Lascahobas in Haiti’s Centre department. Hearing the news of her election, Balde attended an NDI-hosted Political Leadership Academy in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.