A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE considerations that may affect different marginalized groups.84 A review of access to justice in five European countries also found that equal gender representation in judicial positions (as judges and in administrative roles) can have an impact on the gender-responsiveness of courts.85 Because gender inequality is a widespread global phenomenon, and because many men around the world continue to hold regressive, harmful beliefs and attitudes about how women should think and act, these negative perceptions can influence how the men who dominate those institutions handle women’s cases and complaints around the electoral process. In particular, judicial institutions might not handle cases of gender-based violence and gender-related hate speech and harassment in safe, effective ways. Though many countries have laws that prohibit gender-based violence, police, prosecutors, and judges often do not handle such cases with the sensitivity required. 86 In fact, in some countries, police and security forces are the perpetrators of election-related violence. 87 Violence against women in elections and politics is a persistent, serious barrier to women’s equal and meaningful access to the electoral and political process – not to mention a human rights violation and a crime that causes lasting physical and mental harm.88 The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), which tracks instances of political violence and protest around the world, has called the level of targeted political violence against women “unprecedented.” 89 In every part of the world, violence against women in elections suppresses their participation as voters, candidates, election officials, and community leaders. In Zimbabwe, for example, research found that women candidates and party members were subject to attacks on their moral character, physical attacks (including when they campaigned doorto-door), and intraparty abuse and sexual harassment in the form of sexual bribery. In addition, fear of domestic violence as retaliation for participating in politics restricted women’s participation.90 IFES’ Violence Against Women in Elections assessment in Zimbabwe found that police did not document instances of reported sexual assaults and rapes at Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF, Robert Mugabe’s party) base camps, as “they did not want ‘to interfere in political issues’ or because they were afraid that members of the ZANU-PF in power would retaliate or because they themselves were members of the ZANU-PF.”91 In addition to these concerns, the assessment found that “re-traumatization at the hands of law enforcement and lack of trust in the legal system strongly deter women from seeking justice” for violence they face during the electoral process.92 But not all unequal or discriminatory practices of these institutions can be attributed solely to social or cultural attitudinal barriers. In many judicial institutions and electoral bodies, commissioners, judges, lawyers, and police officers may not be trained in how to handle cases that have particular gender dimensions. 93 A United Nations programming guide on preventing violence against women in elections noted that “lack of gender-sensitive training and female personnel within police and the justice system” and “lack of sensitization on the part of the adjudicating body” prevent or slow women from getting justice in instances of electoral violence. 94 In response to this issue, the 84 Ibid., p. 6. Council of Europe. (2016). TOWARDS GUARANTEEING EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR WOMEN. Gordon, 2019. 87 Human Rights Watch. (2021, September 21). “I Had Nowhere to Go”: Violence Against Women and Girls During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya. 88 Huber and Kammerud. (2016). 89 ACLED. (2021, December 8). Violence Targeting Women in Politics on the Rise, New ACLED Data Show. 90 Bardall, Murombo, Hussain, and Greg-Obi. (2018). 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid. 93 Gordon, 2019. 94 Ballington, J., Bardall, G., and Borovsky, G. (2017). Preventing Violence Against Women in Elections: A Programming Guide. UN Women and United Nations Development Programme. 85 86 39