Violence Against Women in Politics

TOKYO -- Two strong, prominent female leaders have found themselves facing very different political futures in neighboring countries on the Bay of Bengal.

In the 2019 general election, Indonesians voted more women into the national parliament than ever before. 

After the first election of the post-authoritarian period in 1999, women’s representation was a paltry 8.8%, so the rise to 20.9% in 2019 seemed worth celebrating. Indeed, women activists had worked long and hard to reach this point. 

Disappointed with the results of the first two elections, they had successfully pushed for a candidate quota, requiring parties to nominate at least 30% women. 

The European Women’s Lobby offers women in politics training on online violence against women in view of the upcoming EU elections. Book your spot on 13 or 16 February!

In Venezuela, the opposition presidential primaries of October 22, 2023, unleashed a new wave of disinformation, propaganda and hoaxes on social media long before the process even took place: from the combination of the TV program “Con el Mazo dando” and artificia

More than 70 national elections are scheduled for 2024, including in eight of the 10 most populous countries. But one group is likely to be significantly under-represented: women. A major reason is the disproportionate amount of abuse female politicians and candidates receive online, including threats of rape and violence. The rise of artificial intelligence, which can be used to create sexually explicit deepfakes, is only compounding the problem. […]