Table 9: Views on voting for women [rural vs. urban] Parties reserve seats for Women Women are adequately represented in government Why are there so few women politicians (Pull Her Down) Why are there so few women politicians (Culture) Are there equal opportunities for young women in politics? Older women done a great job in supporting younger women Older women done nothing in supporting younger women Rural 83%* 51%* 49% 37%* 45%* 38%* Urban 64% 37% 58%* 29% 29% 21% 14% 27%* * (p=0.01) However, there were some interesting differences between the two groups, and it is worth noting these in a little detail. Rural women feel that the political parties should not reserve seats for women, and that women are adequately represented in government. This is interesting because neither view is actually supported by the facts: there were fewer women candidates put forward (but redressed to some extent by the quota system under proportional representation), and certainly a minimal number of women in executive positions in the government. Rural women also believe that there are equal opportunities for young women in politics and also that older women have done a great job in supporting younger women. It is also interesting that urban women identify a lack of solidarity (pull her down, or the “PHD syndrome”) as the significant reason for why there are so few women politicians, whilst rural women see “culture” – presumably patriarchy – as the significant reason. Rural women are more likely to vote for female councillors or women candidates in preference to men, whilst urban women are likely to support a female candidate who is a new comer to politics. Presumably rural women see closer links to their local councillors than urban women. Table 10: Voting for women candidates[ rural vs. urban] Vote for Female Candidate (Councillor) Vote for Female Candidate (New comer) Vote for Female Candidate (Just because is woman) Rural 31%* 2% 33%* Urban 25% 5%* 21% * (p=0.01) Age As was pointed out in respect of the Afrobarometer findings, older women tend to have more conservative views in politics than younger women, and perhaps the combination of older age (over 30 years) and being rural may be a significant factor in the political choices of women. On examination of age as a factor, this did not appear generally to be significant in respect of these Zimbabwe women in general. However, there were a small number of differences due to age (and rural residence). Under 30 year-old women were significantly more likely to report encountering voter registration problems, but less likely to have been registered before 2013 (unsurprising in view of the age of majority entry level for voters), not to have been assisted to vote, asked for assistance, or asked for assistance because of literacy. Older women were more likely to have been registered voters before 2013, requested assistance, and, if from a rural area, to have felt the elections were completely free and fair, and had complete freedom of choice. SiMuka There were a number of predictable differences due to residence, see Table 11. Although the findings indicate that SiMuka had a strong general effect, rural women were significantly more likely to attribute SiMuka as the Page 13