No fewer than 52 cases of electoral violence against women were recorded before and during the just concluded governorship election in Anambra State, the Gender Perspective and Social Development Centre (GPSDC) has revealed.

Executive Director of GPSDC, Mrs Eucharia Anekwe who stated this on Saturday in Awka at the launch of Anambra Women Agenda (AWA) said the cases were recorded during the “Stop Violence Against Women in Politics”, (Stop-VAWIP) campaign.

The Stop-VAWIP campaign is in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Anekwe regretted the growing cases of violence against women, stressing that the campaign was targeted at addressing the ugly trend. She said: “Women’s political participation in Anambra has retrogressed in the past eight years due to acts of electoral violence such as threats; hate speech, assault and blackmail directed at them, hence the Stop- VAWIP campaign.

“During the campaign which started weeks to the governorship election, we recorded about 52 victims who narrated their experiences as aspirants, elected officials, election officials, voters and other electoral stakeholders.

“This is why we brought together a coalition of women organisations called ‘Nwanyibuife’ to raise awareness about violence against women in politics and election in the state.This coalition planned strategic advocacies and came up with the Anambra Women Agenda to address gender-based violence and drive the progress and development of women in the state,” Mrs Anekwe said.

The team’sMonitoring and Evaluation Officer, Mr Glory Nwaka said the agenda would improve women’s participation in leadership, governance and elective politics in the state.

“The document will help forge a unity of purpose and support women voters, political aspirants, candidates as well as encourage the public to desist from gender-based electoral violence in the state,” he said.

On her part, Gender Advisor, NDI, Mrs Roselynn Musa described violence against women in politics as an intolerable violation of women’s rights which poses fundamental challenges to democratic values and electoral processes.

“NDI supports programmes that strengthen electoral integrity and uphold the values of equality and inclusivity that lie at the heart of democracy,” she said.

Courtesy(excluding headline) The Nation