UN Women says AI can intensify online threats against women in politics

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 12/09/2024

Online threats of death, rape, and physical violence against women in politics and public life have become alarmingly common, and the rise of artificial intelligence may further intensify the scale and reach of such online abuse, UN Women says in an explainer for the the International Day of Democracy on 15 September, and in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for the achievement of gender equality.

“Having more women in policymaking has shown to help advance legislation on crucial issues, such as health, education, childcare, infrastructure and ending violence against women and serve as an inspiration for girls to pursue higher education and career opportunities.”

“In 2024 that is one of the biggest electoral years in recent history, 107 countries have never had a woman Head of State. In 2024, women held only 27% of seats in national parliaments and 35.5 of seats in local governments.”

The countries going to elections include some of the highest and lowest in terms of women’s participation in the parliament: Mexico and Rwanda are the only two countries with 50/50 representation of women and men.

Only seven countries have women’s political participation at 40 to 49.9 per centage, as of January 2024 – Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Mozambique, Namibia, North Macedonia and South Africa), while six countries are at 5 to 8 percentage – Iran, Kiribati, Maldives, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

“Globally, representation of women in parliaments stand at 27 per cent and parity is not expected to be achieved for another 39 years.

A UN Women surveys of women office-holders in local councils in Jordan, Lebanon, Nepal, the State of Palestine, and Tunisia showed that psychological violence was the most widespread form of harassment they faced, followed by sexual violence and economic violence—such as being denied access to resources such as salaries, office space, and equipment.

“Women office-holders reported encountering harassment most frequently within the local government institutions where they served, with additional incidents occurring in their communities and at home.”

“Additional barriers include political parties’ resistance to including women as leaders and candidates, and winner-takes-all electoral systems that make it difficult for women to compete on an equal footing with men.”

“Women also often have less access than men to the resources necessary for successfully seeking a party nomination or running in an election. This includes limited access to financial networks and political patronage. In developing countries, the inability to afford even modest candidate registration fees can exclude women from participating in the electoral process.”

UN Women has five points that the organisation says could change things for the better:

• Use special measures, such as legislated gender quotas and gender-balanced appointments. In countries with mandated parliamentary quotas, women hold an average of 26% of parliamentary seats, compared to 21%in countries without such quotas. However, the potential of quotas is often not fully realized, with targets frequently set below 50% and implementation mechanisms lacking or weak. While 94 countries have introduced gender quotas for parliaments, only one-fifth of those countries have set a target of 50% for women’s representation.
• End violence against women in politics. Governments must pass and enforce laws and policies to prevent violence during elections and beyond, to hold perpetrators accountable, and strengthen access to justice and services for victims. To better address online violence against women in politics, governments should collect data on such harassment and hold media and social media companies accountable.
• Ensure the equal treatment of women voters, political candidates, and electoral administrators. To uphold women’s rights to vote, governments must facilitate voter registration, guarantee security at polling stations, and protect women from coercion or intimidation. Involving women in election administration enhances the inclusiveness and credibility of elections and encourages more women to vote.
• Support women candidates and representative decision-making. Governments must invest in capacity-building programmes for women candidates to develop their leadership and campaigning skills, and regulate campaign financing to allocate targeted funds for women candidates. Governments should consider regulating campaign financing to encourage political parties to allocate targeted funds for women candidates and their campaigns.
• Encourage fair and transparent media coverage of women’s political participation. Laws governing election media coverage are essential for regulating electoral processes and ensuring informed public participation. Such laws should ensure balanced coverage of all candidates, guarantee media access for all political parties, prohibit hate speech and rhetoric that incites violence, discourage gender stereotypes and discrimination, and protect against violence towards women and other underrepresented groups.