International Summit on Violence Against Women in Politics, organized in partnership with Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), convened participants from the seven political parties of the United Kingdom represented in Westminster, together with legislators and activists from over 20 countries to identify practical means to address violence against women in politics. The summit was held on 19-20 March 2018, at Carlton House in London.
Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader, MP Liz Saville Roberts who opened the conference, stated: “Increased participation of women in our democracy should be a priority for the governments, political parties and parliaments, and the report we are launching today emphasizes the degree of challenge faced by us not only in Great Britain, but worldwide.
The Summit discussed a new report of the WFD, which reviews cases of violence against women in politics in eight countries and provides recommendations on how political parties, parliaments and civil society can resolve the problem.
This conference was also attended by Adelina Berisha from KWN, Mimoza Kusari and Magbule Shkodra, where they had the opportunity to discuss new measures that need to be put in place to prevent violence and threats against women active in politics.
Some of the main recommendations of this report include:
- Political parties should agree on a mutual code of conduct for the candidates, officials, members and elected politicians, having swift sanctions against those that violate it;
- Institutional protocols should be put in place to encourage victims to report violations both internally and to the police, whenever there is a criminal offense;
- Elected politicians should be encouraged to review “walking” policies in relation to their election offices.
- Parliaments should develop and implement systems for protection of victims of violence, harassment and bullying including the possibility of an independent consultant for sexual violence, and make sure that perpetrators who are members of parliament are open for suspension and expelling from their parliament.
