In a historic election year, women are the force for democratic renewal – The Hill
Never before would so many people worldwide heed Bob Marley’s rousing anthem to “Stand up for your rights” — particularly the most basic, central right in a democracy — the right to vote.
With half the world voting in over 80 national elections, 2024 will be the biggest election year in history. While some elections may not be fully free and fair, the voices of over half the populace — the voices of women — might be severely constrained.
Women face barriers to equal and active political participation at every stage of the electoral cycle. Some countries bar women from voting or serving in office altogether. Others curtail women’s access to register to vote for lacking identity documents.
While one billion people worldwide cannot vote because they lack official identity documents, the World Bank estimates that 1 in 2 women in low-income countries does not have an official ID, limiting their access to participate in political life. Married women often face more identity proof requirements than married men when applying for a national ID card. Further, women engaged in unpaid care work — a staggering total of 12.5 billion hours a year — are turned away for inability to pay fees.
Despite these hurdles, in dozens of countries, more women than men tend to turn out to vote.
Denigration and defamation of women, amplified by social media and tech platforms, are perils that carry exponential harm during elections. Women voters encounter violence during elections and political processes. Frequently such violence intends to deter women from civic participation, but there are ways to forecast, monitor and mitigate its impact.
Alarmingly, attacks against citizen observers and electoral officials have been on the rise. In the U.S., women make up nearly 80 percent of election administrators and are at greater risk of gender-based harassment and threats forcing their departure; a liability of serious consequence in a major election year.
Perhaps the top reason women cite for exiting and increasingly never even entering politics is the virulent harassment and vitriol thrown at them. Not for their policies, perspectives or platforms, but for being women, their appearances, their sexuality, their intimate lives and the quality of their parenting. This is a level of abuse their political male peers are mostly shielded from.
While a global phenomenon, these gendered attacks are often local, and frequently from women candidates’ own political party. The ripple effects are undeniable: from impact on women politicians’ mental health struggles to countless young women worldwide watching and internalizing the cycle of women in politics being shamed and discredited.
State-based and affiliated actors join forces with opportunistic trolls to flood communication channels with misogyny and gendered threats (rape is particularly popular) to drown out and delegitimize the voices and votes of women. Whether as voters, election observers, electoral body officials, civic leaders or candidates, women’s participation provokes targeted hostilities designed to chill their participation, curtail their influence and eliminate them from seeking power. After all, nothing seems to scare authoritarians more than women’s equality.
But this pernicious toll, borne by women leaders personally, erodes democracy as a whole.
Despite these challenges, initiatives to fight violence against women in politics by the National Democratic Institute (where I am a senior advisor for gender and democracy) such as the #NotTheCost campaign are gaining traction, as well as promising interventions to combat online violence.
National government-led multi-stakeholder initiatives like the Global Partnership for Action Against Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse are focused on key principles such as safety by design, establishing response mechanisms and identifying effective tools and approaches to combat gendered disinformation.
Moreover, activists, especially young women, are ground-truthing progressive democratic values, leading protests and calls for transformative change. This growing trend of young women turning to progressive priorities by emphasizing inclusive, equitable approaches is undercut by their male peers’ views hostile to gender equality.
As the world views of young men and women seem to drift apart, a 2023 United Nations Development Program gender social norms survey found that almost 9 out of 10 men and women worldwide still hold gender biases today, with half of people worldwide believing men make better political leaders than women. These attitudes are reflected in the stagnated 26 percent world average of women members of parliament.
Political parties continue to act as gatekeepers to women’s political leadership. Countries with parliamentary quotas often comply with requirements in ways that do not ensure women will win seats. This does not bode well for enshrining women’s political participation and leadership as a prerequisite for democracy.
Why is this important? Having studied several hundred political revolutions since 1945, Harvard professors Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks found that though revolutionary male leaders are lionized, women’s work undergirds more effective political movement strategies and their inclusion predicts the subsequent success and sustainability of hard-fought democracies.
While women leaders consistently display more effective leadership skills, they are in danger of disproportionately shouldering the burden of crisis management and democratic turnarounds. The glass ceiling must not become a glass cliff, setting up newly minted women leaders for failure.
“We will know whether democracy lives or dies by the end of 2024,” warns Nobel Prize laureate journalist Maria Ressa, herself the target of online violence. Accelerating support for women’s full, meaningful and equal electoral and political participation is essential to ensuring that it lives and renews.
Tzili Mor is a senior advisor for gender and democracy at the National Democratic Institute.
Link:
In a historic election year, women are the force for democratic renewal - The Hill
- Judges, witnesses, prosecutors increasingly warn of threats to democracy in 2024 elections as Jan. 6 prosecutions continue - CBS News - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Do We Face the Gravest Threat to Our Democracy Since the Cold War? - The Nation - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- If You Can Keep It: NBC, Social Media, And Preserving Democracy : 1A - NPR - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- In divided America, anything goes in the name of protecting democracy" - GZERO Media - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- A Simple US Step Can Help Protect Another Imprisoned Democracy Activist in Russia - Just Security - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- If You Can Keep It: NBC, social media, and preserving democracy - the1a.org - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- How 'Do Your Own Research' Might Have Doomed Democracy - GQ - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Once at Democracy's Center, Nonprofits Now Stand on the Outside - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Letters to the editor: Democracy and freedom are on the ballot; a peaceful week without students; how we react to adversity - Boulder Daily Camera - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 3/27/24 - Is Democracy In The U.S. Working? It's A Toss-Up, But Voters Don't See It Ending In Their Lifetimes ... - Quinnipiac University Poll - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 'Duty to democracy': Kansas newspaper files lawsuit after police raided the newsroom - Yahoo! Voices - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Bitcoin Magazine Partners with the CIA to Export Democracy Around the World - Bitcoin Magazine - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Will RFK Jr. and Other Third-Party Candidates Help Doom Democracy? Mother Jones - Mother Jones - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 'Our democracy is at stake': Biden weighs in on the 2024 election - MSNBC - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- India slams U.S. and Germany over Kejriwal arrest criticism - The Washington Post - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Trump's Courts Can't Stop the Battle to Restore Democracy - Shepherd Express - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Instagram and Threads are limiting political content. This is terrible for democracy - The Conversation Indonesia - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- GOP billionaires vs. democracy: they know what theyre getting into this time - MSNBC - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Bill Maher grills Esper for not backing Biden after calling Trump a 'threat to democracy': A 'binary' choice - Fox News - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- The Worst of What Humanity Is Capable Of: Pediatrician Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan on What She Saw in Gaza - Democracy Now! - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- South Carolina Will Use Gerrymandered Congressional Map in 2024, District Court Rules - Democracy Docket - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Challenges and Perspectives of Political Parties on Democracy and Elections in Myanmar Stimson Center - Stimson Center - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- 'Duty to democracy': Kansas newspaper files lawsuit after police raided the newsroom - Today's News-Herald - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Dems' lawfare war on Trump is its own threat to democracy - New York Post - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- China Has a Cyber Army, But Why Bother Subverting Democracy? - JAPAN Forward - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Ruben Gallego's Battle Against Kari Lake Could Decide the Fate of the SenateAnd Our Democracy Mother Jones - Mother Jones - April 1st, 2024 [April 1st, 2024]
- Myanmars military junta losing ground to pro-democracy resistance, resorting to greater brutality - Firstpost - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Labour tells China it will act on interference in UK democracy - The Guardian - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Appointment of UN Rapporteur discussed at Democracy Summit in Seoul - Democracy Without Borders - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- How to become a confident pluralist: Harvard professor and democracy advocate spills - The Daily Universe - Universe.byu.edu - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- UNICEF: Paper Thin Children Dying in Gaza of Malnutrition and Dehydration - Democracy Now! - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- U.N. Special Rapporteur Outlines How Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza - Democracy Now! - March 28th, 2024 [March 28th, 2024]
- Democrats ripped for trying to 'kill democracy' with effort to protect Biden, silence third-party candidates - Fox News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democrats are campaigning on protecting democracy. In N.J., what that means is complicated. - NBC News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- US democracy's unaddressed flaws undermine Biden's stand as democracy's defender but Trump keeps favoring ... - The Conversation United States - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Social media is making kids sad and its bad news for democracy - The Guardian - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Opinion | The One Idea That Could Save American Democracy - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democracy Teetering in African Countries Once Ruled by France - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Third Summit for Democracy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Secretary Antony J. Blinken At the Opening Ceremony of the Third Summit for Democracy - United States Department ... - Department of State - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Where Are Hong Kong's Leading Pro-Democracy Figures Now? - The New York Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- In Vermont, 'Town Meeting' is democracy embodied. What can the rest of the country learn from it? - The Associated Press - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Sharon McNeil: Healing political division is necessary to safeguard democracy - Monroe Evening News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship ... - House Foreign Affairs Committee - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Biden ally warns Democrats against relying on threat to democracy message - The Guardian US - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- 'The January 6 insurrection was a wake-up call' - Roanoke Times - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democracy Report: Wave of democratic backsliding is a global threat - The Washington Post - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Disinformation Age: The Collapse Of Liberal Democracy In The United States Book Review - Eurasia Review - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Biden and the party of 'democracy' are terrified of third-party candidates and voter choice - New York Post - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- I watched Hungary's democracy dissolve into authoritarianism as a member of parliament and I see troubling ... - PennLive - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The 5th Circuit Is Rehearing Voting Decisions at an Alarming Rate - Democracy Docket - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- More UK sanctions expected over China democracy and security fears - Yahoo News UK - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Colombia's Democracy is Under Threat. Here's Why the World Should Care - Newsweek - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Letter: America is at a crossroads, at risk of losing democracy - The Republic - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Letter: Democracy is weak in Iowa due to partisan state politics - The Dispatch Argus - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Xinhua Headlines: Why U.S.-backed "Summit for Democracy" only triggers division, confrontation - Xinhua - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- OUR VIEW: Democracy Could Use Some Help. This One Adjustment Could Be Just What We Need - Times-News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Sudan Could Soon Become the World's Worst Hunger Crisis - Democracy Now! - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Dokken: Hunting access discussion an exercise in grassroots democracy - Grand Forks Herald - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- America's 'news deserts' and what it means for democracy podcast - The Guardian - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Pro-Israel but anti-Netanyahu: Democratic Party leaders try to find the middle ground - The Conversation Indonesia - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Canada announces over $30 million in initiatives during third Summit for Democracy - Prime Minister of Canada - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Democracy is teetering: at ground zero for Trumps big lie in Arizona - The Guardian US - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Opinion | Biden-Netanyahu clash reveals limits of U.S. democracy rhetoric - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Trump nearly derailed democracy once here's what to watch out for in reelection campaign - The Conversation Indonesia - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Indonesia's Corrupted Democracy | Margaret Scott - The New York Review of Books - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Trump predicts the end of U.S. democracy if he loses 2024 election - Yahoo! Voices - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship ... - House GOP Foreign Affairs Committee - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- What People Think Would Improve Democracy in 24 Countries - Pew Research Center - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Dark concerns over upcoming vote in world's largest democracy Harvard Gazette - Harvard Gazette - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Navalny's killing highlights the need for HE to help preserve democracy - Times Higher Education - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Commentary: Can St. Patrick and green beer save American democracy? - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Blinken set to arrive in S. Korea to attend democracy summit - The Korea Herald - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Letter: Threats to our cars, and also our democracy - Chico Enterprise-Record - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Framework Convention - Council of Europe - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Opinion | Democratic ads to help Bernie Moreno win Ohio GOP Senate primary reek of hypocrisy - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Combating Threats to Election Workers Ahead of the 2024 Election - Democracy Docket - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Mehdi Hasan on Genocide in Gaza, the Silencing of Palestinian Voices in U.S. Media & Why He Left MSNBC - Democracy Now! - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Ignorance and democracy: Capitalism's long war against higher education - Salon - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Germany Looks to Stop the Far Right From Assuming Power - The New York Times - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
Tags: