A COLLABORATIVE COMMONWEALTH: UNITY, DIVERSITY AND COMMON CHALLENGES 5th Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Conference ‘Political Violence against Women’ CWP Session 3 - 15 December 2016
LEGISLATING EFFECTIVELY TO PROTECT WOMEN FROM POLITICAL VIOLENCE Moderator: Rt Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, MP, CWP Chairperson and Speaker of Parliament (Uganda) Discussion Leaders: • Hon. Angela T. Didiza, MP (South Africa) • Dr Roberta Blackman Woods, MP (United Kingdom) • Hon. Dr Jiko Luveni, MP, Speaker of Parliament (Fiji)
CWP Session Report: A dynamic, inspiring, and informative session was chaired by the Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, MP, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, and Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) on the topic, ‘Legislating effectively to protect women from political violence’. Each of the discussion leaders delivered an insightful, well-received presentation and
Members contributions added value to the wide-ranging discussion. The first discussion leader, Hon. Angela T. Didiza, MP (South Africa), observed that despite gains such as the extension of the franchise and the creation of enabling instruments, many obstacles remained and that even women holding political office face structural
impediments to the full exercise of their powers. Hon. Angela T. Didiza, MP noted that negative stereotyping of women by the media, while a more subtle form of violence, can leave real trauma in its wake for women, children, and families. The literal cost of gender-based violence in South Africa had actually been quantified through a KPMG study, which concluded that this type of violence cost
Rapporteur: Ms. Linda Kolody (Yukon, Canada)
The Parliamentarian | 2017: Issue One | 47