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Zimbabwean women and their participation in elections
A P Releer, Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU)
December 02, 2011

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Women's participation in the political life of a country has always faced an uphill struggle. Beginning with the fight for the right to vote, which was granted very late even in such well-developed countries as Switzerland, a major hurdle has been the underlying patriarchy of many nations. The struggle for equal pay and rights in the work place is still ongoing, and, even where these rights are apparently protected by law, there remain the attitudes of men to overcome. However, in addition to patriarchy, women seeking to participate in politics must often not merely overcome the credibility gap imposed by patriarchal attitudes, but face even greater problems, and, in many countries, this is the danger of political violence, especially in countries where the contest for political power is intense and violent. Zimbabwe is such a country.

Women and Elections:

There is no doubt that women in Zimbabwe have a strong interest in the political life of their country. Based on the findings of a national poll of 2158 women, drawn from all 10 Provinces, in mid-November to early-December 2009, Zimbabwean women indicated this interest.

Women believe that they should participate in politics and increasing numbers of women are voting, although in less numbers than are actually eligible to vote, as can be seen from Figure 1 below.

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