Join us for a webinar where Diana Højlund Madsen (Nordic Africa Institute), Shingirai Mtero (Nordic Africa Institute) and Mandiedza Parichi (Great Zimbabwe University) present their findings from the new Current Africa Issue "Making politics safer – mitigating violence against women in politics in Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe”. Based on 134 interviews with women active in local politics, the study documents gendered electoral violence including harassment, intimidation, online abuse, and sexual assault. It illustrates how women candidates who are young, unmarried, from marginalised ethnic groups or opposition parties face the highest risks. Moderated by professor Amanda Gouws (Stellenbosh University), the webinar will examine the factors driving these trends and suggest recommendations for policy makers based on a multi actor, multi-level and multi sector approach.

The webinar will also feature Josephine Ahikire and Cecillia Makonyola, from respectively Makerere University and Westminster Foundation for Democracy working at the intersection of gender, politics and governance, who will discuss the findings and how they resonate with their experiences and the lessons to be learned to make politics safer for women.

This webinar is the sixth of a series and part of a research project at The Nordic Africa Institute entitled “Making Politics Safer – Gendered Violence and Electoral Temporalities”, with a focus on Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe and the local manifestations in these contexts. The project explores intersectional perspectives on gendered violence against women in local politics and how African realities speak back to broader debates on this topic.