Violence Against Women in Elections: An Excerpt from IFES’ Framework

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) recognizes that violence against women in elections is a threat to the integrity of the electoral process – it can affect women’s participation as voters, candidates, election officials, activists, and political party leaders, and it undermines the free, fair, and inclusive democratic process. Through increased attention to women’s participation and women’s voices in democracy assistance, narratives of violence against women in elections in their homes, political arenas, and public spaces have become more visible.

In an effort to better understand and address the ways in which electoral violence creates a barrier to women’s participation, IFES has developed the Violence Against Women in Elections (VAWIE) Framework to specifically identify and address the unique issues related to gender-based election violence.

This Framework represents the culmination of intensive research and fieldwork and is intended to improve the capacity of international and domestic practitioners to understand and reduce VAWIE.