Violence against women in politics in Latin America

In recent years, women politicians around the world have reported being victims of harassment and violence because of their work. These practices are known as violence against women in politics or VAWIP. Latin America is the region of the world where this issue has been most widely discussed. This dissertation looks at the debates in the region to understand 1) what VAWIP is and the main manifestations in the region and 2) how discussions about VAWIP have developed and evolved. To understand this phenomenon, this research used a variety of qualitative methods including interviews with activists, politicians, and state officials from several countries in the region, along with legislative debates, women’s organizations reports, news articles, and court cases. The main finding of this research is that gender microaggressions and false accusations of corruption are systematically used in Latin America to attack women politicians and undermine their work. Based on a broad conception of violence, this dissertation also analyses diverse legislative and non-legislative measures created to end VAWIP and offers a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of these measures, and their role in improving women’s representation and electoral and democratic integrity.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Juliana Restrepo Sani