Chapter 5 – Conclusions and recommendations

Across all three countries explored by the study, women active in politics are exposed to physical, sexual, economic, psychological and semiotic (online and offline) GEV. Moreover, all three contexts display to a greater or lesser degree – patriarchal political arrangements, male political gatekeepers, and processes that serve to normalise political violence. Focusing in on women’s representation in local politics, it is notable that the differences are considerable smaller among the elected county members in Kenya (8 percent) and Zimbabwe (13 percent) – which operate quota systems – have higher proportions of women district assembly members than Ghana (4 percent). Despite the quota systems used in the former two countries, however, there is scant evidence that the conditions experienced by women active in local politics have improved significantly. Moreover, the degree of GEV exposure experienced by a woman is impacted by factors such as age, ethnicity, marital status and party political affiliation. Here, women who are young, single, from more marginalised ethnicities, and/or members of opposition or minority parties face greater risks.

Consequently, women are forced to adopt individual coping strategies or engage in pre-emptive ‘safety work’, such as campaigning in groups or with higher ranking men; avoiding ‘unsafe’ zones; campaigning at different times and in different places from the opposition; employing personal security; and sharing their experiences with others, either within political circles or outside them (e.g. with pastors). All this indicates an urgent need for a formal, structured approach to addressing GEV that encompasses multiple actors, sectors and governance levels.

In light of these issues, the report makes the following recommendations to the indicated actors.

In Ghana, the Local Governance Act needs to be supplemented with robust sanctions. Moreover, the general provisions on election offences in the People’s Representation Act should not only be amended to include the local government level, but updated to incorporate specific provisions on in-person and online GEV. Such provisions could be included in the bill currently being drafted on misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.

In Kenya, the scope of the Election Offences Act should be expanded so that it explicitly outlaws the use of mobile technologies, online media and social media platforms to target, harass and attack political candidates. The current act clearly outlaws the use of violence, including sexual violence. However, a specific law that regulates the online space is required to address increasing levels of online GEV.

In Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act should be amended to codify GEV as an election offence, recognise women as a vulnerable group, and set out clear penalties for those committing offences. Here, the Domestic Violence Act can act as a basis for expanding the definition of violence beyond physical harm.

In Ghana, both the district assemblies and unit committees should be involved in this work, working collaboratively with local chiefs.

In Kenya, the county assemblies and county executive should launch sensitisation drives aimed at increasing civic awareness around elections offences, the dangers of GEV, and the positive outcomes of peaceful elections.

In Zimbabwe, the National Council of Chiefs and CSOs – via the Gender Observatory – should engage in dialogue with communities regarding GEV, as well as provide mandatory continuous training for both female and male party politicians on preventing such violence.

In Ghana, although local government elections are theoretically not party political, women candidates are in practice affiliated with political parties and GEV perpetrators are often either part of their own or opposition parties. As such, the parties – whether they are in power or opposition – also have a key role to play.

In Kenya, a significant proportion of GEV takes place within political parties during party primaries, and all political parties should put in place regulations expressly prohibiting all forms of violence amongst members during primaries at both a national and county level. Moreover, separate reference needs to be made to GEV, with clear, enforceable sanctions specified for perpetrators.

In Zimbabwe, intra-party violence that targets women candidates is on the rise due to factional politics and entrenched patriarchal norms. there is need to legislate the electoral Code of Conduct should be updated to include specific provisions addressing GEV. Alongside this, stiffer penalties for parties that fail to uphold the legislation need to be introduced into the Electoral Act. Political parties should also adhere to transparent candidate selection processes and introduce tiered campaign financing that ensures the inclusion of female politicians.

In Ghana, the gender equity committee must be given the resources it needs to ensure the affirmative action measures it oversees are adhered to, and the authority – alongside the electoral commission – to sanction GEV abuses. Furthermore, the rule on 50 percent representation of women in district assemblies of the appointed members (one third) needs to be strictly enforced.

In Kenya, the election commission has a proven track record of addressing election offense3s and assisting state institutions to address election violence. The election commission’s mandate should be extended to allow it to assist political parties dealing with internal GEV offences.

In Zimbabwe, the election commission needs to provide gender-sensitive training for its election management teams, as well as introduce specific protocols designed to protect women candidates. In the last elections CSOs were not permitted to engage in activities/trainings during elections. In this instance the Zimbabwe Election Commission should also conduct civic education raising awareness on election offences and GEV.

In Ghana, police domestic violence and victim support units could potentially be expanded to include victims of GEV and benefit from existing experiences.

In Kenya, the gender-sensitive election training introduced for police commanders and officers in the lead-up to the 2022 elections 141 police commanders were trained on gender-specific election security management and 846 officers across 12 counties were trained in prevention and response to violence against women in elections. These training programmes should be scaled up and extended to all 47 counties.

In Zimbabwe, the police force established the Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) which primarily focuses on gendered based violence. The remit of the police VFUs should be broadened out to GEV-related matters, with a dedicated hotline or desk established to deal with gender-specific election offences.

In Ghana, funding for targeted GEV initiatives should be made available to organisations and institutions working on gender and democracy, especially those operating at a local government level. However, a few organisations do conduct trainings including a focus on GEV.

In Kenya, the existing array of CSOs focused on women’s rights and political participation should look to increase their capacity during elections by pooling their resources in key focus areas, such as GEV prevention.

In Zimbabwe, CSOs should put in place training and support programmes for women candidates at least a year before elections begin in order to avoid bureaucratic barriers, such as obtaining government accreditation. CSOs should also offer training to journalists and other key public-facing stakeholders designed to prevent election reporting that reinforces gendered social prejudices.