Women politicians and candidates participating in the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Ethiopia are facing mounting incidences of gender-based violence and hate speech, the country’s rights body reported on Monday.
During celebrations to mark the International Women’s Day, on the theme “Choose to Challenge”, Ethiopia’s Human Rights Commission (EHRC) decried violence against women candidates and election clerks.
The rights body said political parties and the electorate should do their part to prevent gender-motivated hate speech and other forms of gender-based violence.
The violence has particularly targeted women participating in the 2021 national elections as political party candidates, voters, electoral officers and staff as well as women playing other roles in the electoral process.
An assessment on violence against women carried out by the rights body alongside the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWOMEN) showed women taking part in election processes, particularly women political party candidates, were vulnerable to verbal and physical violence online and offline.
The study, which covered Addis Ababa as well as Amhara, Oromia and Somali regions, found that women taking part in elections as candidates, voters, election officers and other electoral activities have faced various forms of psychological, physical, economic and sexual violence.
The assessment, which included testimonies from women active in politics and electoral activities as well as experiences of law enforcement and government officials and other stakeholders, also shows that women political party candidates are particularly vulnerable to such forms of violence.
Women interviewed for the study recount losing their personal and commercial residences, being subjected to imprisonment, physical and gender-based violence and facing other problems, including being banned from places of worship and being isolated by families.
Similarly, women who express their political views online and those directly taking part in election processes, are exposed to gender motivated hate speech such as on comments on their physical appearance, their attire, their social life or verbal attacks directed at the families and other forms of hate speech that cause significant psychological harm.
Such forms of gender motivated hate speech also constitute gender-based violence.
All the study informants also confirm that during previous elections law enforcement and other relevant authorities did not take measures to help women who have faced such forms of violence and, in some cases, were themselves part of the problem.
As a result, women political party members and candidates had only family or the political party they represent to turn to for comfort and encouragement.
On the other hand, the study also showed that, often, the political parties the women represent did not, themselves, grasp the concerning nature of the problem.
The Ethiopian human rights Commission insisted violence against women in elections is a threat to the integrity of the electoral process as it coercively excludes women from having a voice in the political life and governance of their country. (PANA/NAN)
