Online violence against women in politics has emerged as the new frontier for anti-democratic actors across the globe that intend to push politically active women out of politics. This research project aims to develop an evidence-based toolkit to address online violence against women in local politics in Zimbabwe.

Focus area

Online platforms are being actively used to target, abuse and silence elected and aspiring women politicians across the world. Current research on the topic mainly focuses on Europe, the US & Latin America, while policy directives primarily focus on women in national politics. This project focuses on the impact of online violence against women in local politics in Zimbabwe. It addresses an important knowledge & policy gap, and will provide guidelines and recommendations of wider application for local government authorities and women politicians.

Key objectives

The central goal of the project is to develop an evidence-based toolkit to mitigate and prevent online violence targeted at women in local government politics in Zimbabwe. More specifically, it aims to characterise the nature and impact of online violence against women in local politics. To identify laws and regulations that can be mobilised to prosecute and deter perpetrators of online violence. And lastly, to formulate policy guidelines and strategies for local governments and women politicians to address online violence against women in local politics in Zimbabwe.

External funding

Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) External link, opens in new window.

Researchers in the project:

Principal Investigator: Dr. Shingirai Mtero - Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden

Collaborating Researcher: Dr. Mandiedza Parichi - Midlands State University, Zimbabwe