The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”

When violence against women occurs during elections, the number of women voters, candidates, and officials in the electoral process decreases. Female candidates can be abused in various ways, including financial blackmail, defamation, slander, intimidation, electronic threats, ridicule, and public pressure to withdraw from the elections. These incidents can be classified as gender-based hate speech. This “contradicts international standards for elections, which require full and equal participation by all citizens.”

In this article, Ms. Israa Mahadin, an attorney-at-law, explores the most significant issues in addressing violence against women in elections across the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, the article presents recommendations and suggestions to reduce this type of violence against women.

This briefer is available in Arabic only.