New research highlights violence against women in local politics ahead of Ghana’s 2027 elections
Source: UNDP
As Ghana prepares for local elections in 2027, new research presented in Accra today warns that violence against women in politics remains a significant barrier to democratic participation at the local level.
At a joint roundtable hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ghana and the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), researchers, policymakers, development partners and members of the diplomatic community convened to examine structural barriers to women’s political participation and identify strategies for safer, more inclusive local governance.
Presenting on NAI’s research, Senior Researcher Diana Højlund Madsen shared findings from the newly published book Making Politics Safer – Mitigating violence against women in politics in Africa: insights from Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, released in NAI’s Current African Issues series The book draws on 134 interviews with politically active women and highlights how women in local politics face systematic forms of physical, sexual, psychological, economic and semiotic violence designed to deter their participation and preserve male-dominated political systems.
“In Ghana, only 4.1 per cent of district assembly members are women. If we want inclusive local governance, we must look not only at how to bring women into politics, but at the conditions under which they participate,” said Diana Højlund Madsen. “Violence and intimidation are not isolated incidents. They are structured obstacles that shape who is able to stand for office and remain in politics.”
As Ghana prepares for local elections in 2027, new research presented in Accra today warns that violence against women in politics remains a significant barrier to democratic participation at the local level.
At a joint roundtable hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ghana and the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), researchers, policymakers, development partners and members of the diplomatic community convened to examine structural barriers to women’s political participation and identify strategies for safer, more inclusive local governance.
Presenting on NAI’s research, Senior Researcher Diana Højlund Madsen shared findings from the newly published book Making Politics Safer – Mitigating violence against women in politics in Africa: insights from Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, released in NAI’s Current African Issues series The book draws on 134 interviews with politically active women and highlights how women in local politics face systematic forms of physical, sexual, psychological, economic and semiotic violence designed to deter their participation and preserve male-dominated political systems.
“In Ghana, only 4.1 per cent of district assembly members are women. If we want inclusive local governance, we must look not only at how to bring women into politics, but at the conditions under which they participate,” said Diana Højlund Madsen. “Violence and intimidation are not isolated incidents. They are structured obstacles that shape who is able to stand for office and remain in politics.”