What Anti-Democratic Forces Understand About Democracies That Philanthropies And Think Tanks Do Not
There is little doubt that social media has dramatically changed the way political candidates and activists of all genders engage with their constituencies, but what’s social media impact when it comes specifically to women? Is social media making it easier or more difficult for them to consider a political career, engage in the political space, and ultimately win elections?
What’s social media impact when it comes specifically to women?
As a gender expert, a women’s rights activist, and a global fellow at The Wilson Center, I wanted to find this out, therefore I embarked on a multi-year research project culminating in the publication of #ShePersisted’s Women, Politics & Power in the New Media World, a global study based on personal interviews with 88 women leaders in politics, civil society, journalism, television, and technology in 30 countries, review of over 100 publications, and a collaboration with Marvelous AI, a data analytics company.
In a nutshell, the picture that comes across through this work is one of social media as a double-edged sword, with both benefits and burdens for women in politics.
As Julia Gillard, 27th Prime Minister of Australia, explained to me:
The benefits are that you can establish relations with a mass constituency. You can say what you want to say and publish it. The very considerable downside is the fact that the social media environment is so gendered and full of vile material when it comes to women politicians.
While many of the women legislators I interviewed globally told me they found social media very useful to overcome the marginalization they often suffered on traditional media outlets and reach the electorate in their own terms, the degree of concern regarding online violence and the prevalence of sexist attacks against women in politics was overwhelming.
Often, strikes don’t come from deranged individuals acting solo but from armies of politically motivated trolls and bots. Analysis of the 2020 Democratic Party Presidential primaries in the United States shows that women candidates are attacked more often than men by fake news accounts, and my interviews with women politicians in Ukraine, Italy, and India suggest that the same phenomenon is happening in those countries too, with the deliberate goal being to prevent women from taking part in government.
The problem is grave and wide-spread enough that it should not be understood as a concern for women’s rights activists only but for all those who care about the health of our institutions. According to Kristina Wilfore, campaign and election expert:
A new wave of authoritarianism seeks to push women aside and diminish progress on minority rights by controlling social media channels, attacking the press, and limiting freedom of assembly and expression.
Who is behind these attacks and what’s so disruptive — and transformative — about women’s political leadership that antidemocratic forces would go to great lengths to prevent it?
Despite evidence that women’s participation in governance increases the public’s trust in democracy and reduces corruption and despite the pervasiveness of the problem, little to no resources are being invested in understanding and addressing this phenomenon. Universities, think tanks, and large philanthropies with deep pockets and large investments on the issue of democracy and technology aren’t prioritizing an issue that they do not understand as being crucial for our society. As one of their employees told me: “We focus on democracy, not on women’s issues”.
Sadly, anti-democratic forces all over the world have understood something they have not:
Women’s equal participation is a prerequisite for strong, participatory democracies and resources can be mobilized effectively to bring them in — or push them out — by making the personal cost of a political career simply too high for their reputation and well-being.
As more and more data becomes available on this issue and more and more women, from Hillary Clinton to Katie Hill, and Ilhan Omar, speak about the consequences such attacks, those who claim to care about the health of our democracy have fewer and fewer excuses for their inaction and failure to recognize that public attacks on women in politics aren’t just a personal issue some women have to face but one of national security — and it is a real threat to democracies worldwide.
Lucina Di Meco is a senior expert, advocate, and writer on women’s leadership and gender equality. She’s a Global Fellow at The Wilson Center and the Senior Director of Girls’ Education at Room to Read. Lucina has worked for a wide range of international nonprofits (including Vital Voices, International IDEA, and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy), three UN agencies (UN Women, UNDP, and UNIDO), and the OECD. She has written for The Hill, The Huffington Post, Ms Magazine and New America, among others. Lucina has a Magna Cum Laude in Political Science from the University of Turin (Italy), a Master in Development Economics from the University of East Anglia (UK), a Diploma in Gender Studies from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Mexico, and is a Harvard Women and Power Alumna. Lucina is also the co-founder of The Gender Breakfast and serves on the Advisory Board of FundHer.