Violence or threats of violence are a significant obstacle to women's access to public decision-making.

Twenty-five years ago, the Beijing Platform for Action agreed at the Fourth UN Conference on Women prioritized women’s access to public decision-making roles as a crucial part of the project of transforming societies towards gender equality. In the last quarter-century, the proportion of women in parliament has doubled to just over 25% today, but the pace of change remains slow. A significant barrier to women’s access to public decision-making is violence or the threat of violence experienced by women considering political or public offices. This phenomenon also impacts other areas of participation in public life, such as civic engagement and journalism, affecting women’s ability to exercise their full range of political and human rights.

This event will provide a forum to discuss the impacts of this violence through personal experiences of panelists, as well as research and advocacy to end violence against women in politics and public life. Framing the discussion, Professor Mona Lena Krook (Rutgers University) will introduce her newly-released book on this topic, Violence against Women in Politics (Oxford University Press, 2020), and will identify patterns of violence affecting women politicians globally.

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