Gender and Political Violence: Motives, Forms, and Impacts - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Gender and Political Violence: Motives, Forms, and Impacts

Gabrielle

Bardall

– APSA Congressional Fellow

Elin

Bjarnegård

– Uppsala University

Jennifer M.

Piscopo – Occidental College Slide2

Mapping Gender onto Political Violence

Protestors confronting state oppression in Venezuela

Political violence always differentiated by gender

Because,

patriarchy

Multiple analyses possible re: how gender roles and gendered social structures shape, and are shaped by, political

violenceSlide3

Timely and Specific Policy Problem

Acts that harm women who are active in political life

To solve, need to know:

How

to distinguish between political violence and everyday

sexism

Whether

and how gender

(women and men) shapes experiences

of political violence

Slide4

Politics as an Arena

Cécile Duflot

Political violence

Coercive

or forceful acts used to disrupt “regular” political

processes

Everyday sexism

Enforces

male dominance and perpetuates gender inequality

Happens not “just” to disrupt political processes

Occurs in most arenas,

not

exclusive to politics

Focus on political violence rather than everyday sexism



Avoid policy solutions that protect arbitrary groups of womenSlide5

Competing Interpretations

How does gender work?

Harms endured by female politicians as misogynistic attacks designed to drive women from the public sphere (or)

Harms endured by women within contexts of political violence, perhaps using gendered scripts

(

or)

Harms endured by women interpreted as misogynistic regardless of motive or form

Miriam Rodríguez

Jo CoxSlide6

Interpretations Have Policy Implications

Gender not always in motive (or not always central in motive) → tackle causes of disorder & dissent

Gender can be in form without being in motive → develop gender-specific protection protocols

Gender can be in neither motive nor form, but still shapes interpretation → gender-aware restorative practicesSlide7

Three

Possibilities for Political Violence

Is gender in the motive?

Yes -> Gender motivated

No↓

Is gender in the form?  

Yes -> Gendered scripts

No↓

Is gender in the impact?  

Yes

-> Gendered

impactSlide8

Research Design

Account for the broader political context, especially normalized political violence →

identify motives

and forms

Measure and compare/contrast the experiences of women and

men → reveal gendered patterns of victimization and forms

Consider positionality of our interlocutors: why violence occurs vs. why different audiences believe it occurred →

understand

impact

Women discuss obstacles to their political participation: Nicaragua (above), Ecuador (below)Slide9

Policy Impact

Goal: design public policy to bolster democracy: politics must “work” without recourse to

violence

Public policies must solve the underlying problem

Public policies must avoid concept stretching and account for state capacity