President of UN General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid says violence against women in politics is increasing, describing the challenge as moral and ethical failure in the society.
Shahid said this at an event organised by his office on the sideline of the ongoing Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
The objective of the event is aimed at drawing attention to the scourge of violence against women worldwide who are involved in politics.
“As a former parliamentarian, and a lifelong politician, violence against women in politics is an issue dear to my heart. It is a moral and ethical failure on us as a society,” he said.
The event brought together vice-presidents, government ministers and senior officials from more than 20 UN Member States, some of whom spoke from personal experience about the barriers to running for office as a woman candidate.
Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed said that violence against women in politics was a violation of human rights that aims to undermine governance.
“The aim of some groups is silencing women and robbing them of agency,” she said via video message.
The UN deputy chief noted that concrete action is needed to address violence against women and girls.
“Proposals for such national plans are part of the Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report, which was the recent focus of five thematic consultations at the General Assembly.
Violence against women active in political life is a form of gender-based violence that manifests physically, psychologically and sexually, both in-person and online.
The head of UN Women, Sima Bahous, said “violence silences women, renders them invisible, pushes them from public space.”
According to her, this in turn directly hinders progress on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which aims to lift people out of poverty and create a more equal, sustainable world.
Bahous said hate speech as one of the drivers used to discredit women in the public sphere, and noted that such violence was particularly difficult on young women, who may respond by simply shunning political activism altogether.
“Only when women are safe from violence and there is accountability, only then, can we make progress.”
Women today occupy 26.1 per cent of parliamentary seats globally, compared to 13.1 per cent in 2,000, according to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).
“The share of women parliamentary speakers in charge of managing day to day business in legislatures, has also increased from 8.3 per cent in 2005 to 24.7 per cent in 2021.
“Only when women are safe from violence and there is accountability, only then, can we make progress,’’ the UN Women chief said.
“However, as participation of women in politics has increased, so has the violence against them.
“Data shows that this is due to more women speaking out about the scourge, but also as a result of insufficient countermeasures to address violence.
“Those countermeasures could include achieving gender parity, increased public awareness campaigns and holding perpetrators accountable, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women,’’ Reem Alsalem said.
The Special Rapporteur also discussed the need to collect data as a tool to assess the level of gender-based violence against women and girls.
The event was moderated by Amb. Besiana Kadare, Permanent Representative of Albania to UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNESCO.
Amb. Darja Bavdaz Kuret of Slovenia, who is the Special Advisor on Gender in the Office of the President of the General Assembly also participated in the meeting.
