Struggle to remove threats against women bigger than struggle for freedom and democracy

Dr Nomsa Masuku

Dr Nomsa Masuku

Published Dec 6, 2021

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by Nomsa Masuku

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (henceforth, the Electoral Commission) has recently run the country’s local government elections. Twenty-five days later, the annual international campaign known as the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence commenced on 25 November - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – to run until 10 December – Human Rights Day.

The Electoral Commission facilitates citizens’ ability to realise their political rights as provided in section 19 of South Africa’s Constitution. During the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, more than any other time, we reflect on the contribution that we can make in systematically eradicating the scourge of gender-based violence.

The undeniable disparity between genders is a hindrance to combating gender-based violence in all its shapes and forms. As activists work tirelessly to increase the equal representation of all genders in politics, it is heartening to observe some statistics: In South Africa, in order to participate in elections, you are required to register as a voter. Females dominate South Africa’s National Voter Roll at 55% representation. The representation of males is decreasing over time. Perhaps this is a potential red flag as we chase equality.

The trend of higher participation of women continues in terms of voter turnout: 59% of females turned out to vote compared to 41% of registered males.

Of course, participation goes beyond voting in elections. Thus, we turn to gender representation in the candidates that contested the 2021 Local Government Elections. Here we see a reversal of fortunes: 92 036 candidates qualified to contest the elections.

An analysis of the ward candidates reflects a decline in the number of females contesting the elections. Of the candidates contesting the elections, approximately 64% (61% in 2016) are male and 36% (39% in 2006) are female. This trend holds in the throughput of successful candidates: 9 473 candidates were successful; 5976 (63%) of these were male, 3497 (37%) female.

The consensus is that increased participation of females is supported better by proportional representation as opposed to First-Past-the-Post electoral systems as that, which is used inward elections in South Africa. The point to make is that there results in inequality in politics in a sphere of government, I might add, where equality of representation would – at least in theory – provide an opportunity for a more equitable pursuit of services and other opportunities for all genders.

Another driver of inequality in politics is an untended consequence of the rise of the use of social/digital media. There is an observable trend of growing attacks on females on social media. This has had a chilling effect on the political participation of females. Carolina Tchintian, the Director of Political Institutions (CIPPEC) makes the point that the anonymity and reach provided by digital media has amplified online attacks of female political figures.

She observes that female politicians, in response, cut back on their social media engagement to avoid harassment. South Africa has not escaped this global trend.

Tchintian concludes: “By weaponising gender, online attacks against female politicians seek to undermine their political legitimacy and remove them from the heart of the political debate.” These attacks “serve to reinforce gender stereotypes that portray women as ancillary to political activity (and) often succeeds in making women adopt forms of self-censorship.”

The muting of diverse genders on social media platforms will not serve the efforts against gender-based violence. Neither does it encourage a diversity of voices that is necessary for South Africa’s representative democracy.

While the Electoral Commission has formed partnerships with a wide range of organisations to mitigate against the misuse of social media and especially to combat the spread of mis/disinformation in elections, there is an opportunity to invite in political players – be they political parties or independent candidates – to collaborate in fostering a safer online political space for debate.

The strategy the Electoral Commission has used includes but is not limited to reporting abuse of social media, investigating incidents and minimising such attacks. The strategy can be enhanced and augmented by various organisations to cover other areas of political action beyond elections.

Internally, the Electoral Commission has pursued an agenda of advancing the representation of women in all the ranks of the organisation: In addition to three female commissioners, females hold office within the executive and the ranks of senior management. As in all organisations, getting the numbers right is the first step.

The day to day challenge is to deliberately ensure that women not only have seats around the tables around which strategies are crafted and implemented but that their voices are not muted either by self-censorship or any other practices that do not necessarily encourage their viewpoints.

At a programmatic level, the Electoral Commission champions electoral democracy development and education. At the heart of this programme is a commitment to expand the skills that South Africans need to entrench constitutional democracy. Done well, it can help individuals to hone their abilities to participate fully in democratic processes that include but are limited to voting.

There can be no doubt that the struggle to remove all the threats to freedom of women in South Africa equals or is even bigger than the struggle for freedom and democracy. This struggle can only be won through jealously guarding and deepening our electoral democracy.

We must continue to invest in efforts that will result in girls and women that can speak up without fear of reprisal and can walk the streets and paths freely without fearing for their lives. We must do so because, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reminds us, women matter. They matter equally. The choice is not between women/girls, men/boys or other genders. It is all of us together working in tandem.

*Dr Masuku is a Commissioner at the Electoral Commission of South Africa.

The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of Independent Media