Interactive Catalogue

Do Women Pay a Higher Price for Power? Gender Bias in Political Violence in Sweden

Literature Item

Author Information:

• Name: Hakansson Sandra
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.uu.se/

Abstract:

Violence and intimidation against politicians is gaining attention in research on obstacles to political gender equality, but we still do not know whether women experience more violence as politicians than men. This article provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of physical and psychological gender-based violence against officeholders across the political hierarchy. Based on three waves of survey data on 8,000 local-level politicians in Sweden, it was found that the most pronounced gender gap in violence exists among politicians high in the political hierarchy. Female mayors experience far more violence than any other politician. Further, there are indications that women receive a higher penalty than men for media visibility and for supporting minorities. This suggests that perpetrators of political violence are biased toward targeting women, particularly more powerful and visible women. The findings have important implications for understanding the personal price paid for holding positions of political power and how it differs by gender.

Keywords:

political violence, gender and politics, women's representation, local government, violence against politicians, gender equality

Publication Date:

Sept. 15, 2019

Source Specificity:

None, None, None

Website:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sandra-Hakansson/publication/330259342_Do_women_pay_a_higher_price_for_power_Gender_bias_in_political_violence_in_Sweden

Power Domains:

Political

Methods Tools:

Awareness-raising, Benchmarking

Country:

Sweden

City:

Upsala

Implementation Scale:

National

Language:

English