"The greatest cause of violence against women is government tolerance and inaction"

by Helen O'Connell

I would like to pick up some of the points made by earlier bloggers to write a little about how I see the links between violence against women, transforming politics and building democracies.

Politics must become a safe place for women. Violence is an abuse of power and disempowers women of all ages. It affects all societies and is institutionalised in formal and informal political processes and governance structures. It makes it hard, and sometimes impossible, for women to take political decision-making positions.

Helen O'Connell is Head of Policy at One World Action. She is a long-time campaigner, advocate and writer on women's rights with particular interest in women's political rights in context of British and European Union aid, trade and political relations with the global South. A woman who puts herself forward as a candidate in local or national elections or a public office runs the risk of physical, sexual or psychological abuse from her partner, family and community members, political party members, other parliamentarians, the media, police and government officials - all of whom may consider that she has no place or role in political life.

Women's full participation in political life is the only guarantee of our civil, political, social, economic, social and cultural rights, and is essential to building legitimate governance and sustainable democracy. Alongside other barriers to exercising one's political rights, summarised as culture, confidence, cash and caring responsibilities, gender-based violence is one of key factors preventing and limiting women's participation in political processes. Yes it is poorly understood and eliminating violence remains a low priority for most governments.

The 1994 Preliminary Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women argued that the greatest cause of violence against women ‘is government tolerance and inaction. Its most significant consequence is the fear which inhibits women's full social and political participation'. As Maria Eugenia Gomez from Grupo Venancia in Nicaragua put it at a One World Action seminar in March 2007, violence ‘constrains women's political participation and creates fear'.

We need a critical mass of women who will work to transform the political structures themselves, their ways and hours of working, their secrecy, sexist attitudes, corrupt practices, and male-domination. But at the same time we need to work to transform the agenda and priorities of our political structures.

How feminist and progressive women in politics can make a difference, can transform the agenda of political structures, was the question women from over 15 countries discussed at a our recent Dialogue in London. Strong alliances of women ‘inside' and ‘outside' formal politics was seen as essential to transforming political spaces into real democratic spaces, shifting priorities, ensuring accountability and ending violence against women.