POLITICAL intimidation and violence have been cited as some of the major reasons behind women’s reluctance to take up political leadership positions, with only 11% participating in this year’s general elections.
While women constitute the majority of the country’s population, United Zimbabwe Alliance leader Elisabeth Valerio is the only female presidential aspirant out of 11 males.In the 2018 polls, there were a record four female candidates for the presidency.
According to the Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence, when candidate registration closed, the biggest political parties had fielded less than 12% women candidates each for the National Assembly.
For the National Assembly, there are 70 women candidates against 637 men in 210 constituencies.This represents 11% of candidates, down from 14% in 2018.
Speaking at a Press conference in Harare recently, Citizens Coalition for Change spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the country’s hostile political environment was deterring women from actively participating in politics.
“We would have loved to see more women participating in leadership positions but sadly violence, harassment and intimidation are forcing women to shy away,” Mahere said.
Source Newsday
