redressed to some extent by the quota system under proportional representation), and there certainly
were a minimal number of women in executive positions in the government.
Regarding support by older women towards younger women, both groups agreed that not enough of it
was being done but the urban women identified 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
saw “culture” – presumably patriarchy – as the significant reason.
Rural women were more likely to vote for female councillors or women candidates in preference to
men, whilst urban women were likely to support a female candidate who is a new comer to politics at
Parliament level. Presumably rural women see closer links to their local councillors than urban women.
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). They
were also more likely to report 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.
Concerning the Simuka Campaign, the findings indicate that SiMuka had a strong general effect.
However rural women were significantly more likely to attribute SiMuka as the reason for their
registering and voting than urban women. The rural women were also more likely to have heard about
SiMuka through word of mouth while urban women were significantly more likely to have heard about
SiMuka via the radio and television.
In conclusion the findings of the study are strongly supportive of the findings of all other reports on the
elections. They show consistent differences between rural and urban women. The findings also show that
women are no different to men overall, for, in the end a vote is a vote irrespective of gender. Thus, attempts to
discourage citizens from registering and voting are unlikely to be gender-specific, for urban men and women as
for rural men and women. An attempt to strengthen areas of dominance for a political party, is unlikely too to be
gender-specific in rural and urban areas.
It is recommended that to ensure that rural and urban women’s experiences with elections are the same
the following should be done:
Civil society should engage with ZEC to ensure that voter registration and voting meets minimal
gender considerations particularly for the urban electorate
There should be an intensification of advocacy campaigns using what works, i.e. woman to
woman advocacy and workshops
Efforts to empower female candidates to participate from all political parties should increase so
that the female electorate has a pool of female candidates to choose from in supporting other
women and is not confined to having just one female candidate from one party
Efforts should be made to encourage the urban electorate to support female candidates at local
government level and the rural electorate for national assembly seats.
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