Rank countries on electoral violence against women, Jega advises Commonwealth

Attahiru Jega, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says countries should be ranked according to the level of electoral violence recorded, especially against women.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Women Forum in Westminster on Monday, the professor recommended the creation of an index for ranking countries on violence against women in election (VAWIE).

“From the presentations we have listened to about what other organisations are doing globally, it means that whatever framework the Commonwealth will be developing… first of all, you can’t reinvent the wheel, so you have to learn from the experiences of others,” Jega said.

“There is also scope for partnership. How can international organisations collaborate and work together in order to expand some of the specific things that are being done or in order to explore new areas together?

“I also think that there may be the need to establish index. We know, for example, there is Mo Ibrahim Index for governance in Africa, where every year you rank countries in accordance to whether they are high achievers or low achievers.

“We know that there is electoral integrity index about the general integrity of elections. So I think there is scope for establishing an index with regards to the ratings of countries in the commonwealth or globally with regards to violence against women in elections. I think it will be excellent.”

Jega, who moderated the panel on VAWIE, said frameworks should be designed to promote women candidature and support should be given to election management bodies to boost gender policies.

“I think the point needs to be made; even though our focus is on violence against women in elections, we need to recognise that generalised violence in elections actually constrains women’s participation in politics,” he added.