Introduction A recent study on the effect of encouraging women to register and vote in the 2013 elections showed a dramatic increase in the number of women claiming to have registered and voted: there was a 68% increase in the number that claimed to have voted in the 2013 constitutional referendum and a 72% increase on those claiming to have voted in the 2008 harmonised elections1. Whilst this is highly encouraging, it is also the case that the 2013 elections were marked by serious allegations of widespread irregularities, both in respect of voter registration and the polling process2. This paper reports on an analysis of the second phase of an investigation into whether Zimbabwean women could be encouraged to register as voters and whether this influenced their decision to vote in the 2013 elections. Women were interviewed before and after the elections, and before and after a campaign mounted by The Women’s Trust (TWT) to encourage them to register and vote. The campaign involved a media campaign as well as the holding of workshops in 12 Districts in Zimbabwe. This report deals with the responses of 903 women interviewed after the elections, and specifically examines the differences (if any) between rural and urban women. Background The preliminary report noted the enormous improvement in the rate of voting by these women in 20133, but what was also evident was the relatively low rate of voting prior to 2013, some of which is explained by age factors: a citizen can only vote when she has reached the age of 18 years. According to this national survey, in 1980, 40% of women were eligible to vote, but only 20% did so. This had risen in 2008 to nearly all women being eligible to vote, but only about 70% doing so. A significant factor in the later years of Independence, and especially since 2000, has been political violence associated with elections, which may well have had a bearing on women’s participation. However, it is evident from other Zimbabwean research that women see participation in politics as important and have increasingly participated in such, at least as voters4. Women differ from men, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as was indicated in a recent analysis of the five rounds of the Afrobarometer surveys on Zimbabwe.5 Women are however not a homogenous population, and there are frequent references to the differences between rural and urban women. For example, a gender audit of the June 2013 Voters’ Roll showed much higher voter registration rates for rural as opposed to urban women 6. The registration rates in Harare (63%) and Bulawayo (78%) were considerably lower than in the mostly rural Provinces of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, and the Midlands where the registration rates were all in excess of 90%. Mashonaland West, which has many small towns and urban centres, had a registration rate of 79%. So, at face value, it is either easier to register for 1RAU & TWT (2014), Does Encouraging Women to Register and Vote Make a Difference? A Preliminary Report on Women’s Experiences with the 2013 Elections. Report prepared by Caroline Kache, Researcher [RAU]. March 2014. HARARE: RESEARCH & ADVOC ACY UNIT and THE WOMEN’S TRUST. 2RAU (2014), "Numbers out of Tune? An examination of the vote in Hamonised July 2013 Election. "Full Report. Governance Programme, Research and Advocacy Unit [RAU] 10th April 2014, HARARE: RESEARCH & ADVOCACY UNIT. 3RAU & TWT (2014), Does Encouraging Women to Register and Vote Make a Difference? A Preliminary Report on Women’s Experiences with the 2013 Elections.Op cit. 4RAU (2010), Women, Politics and the Zimbabwe Crisis, Report produced by Idasa (An African Democracy Institute), the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), and the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ). May 2010. HARARE: RESEARCH & ADVOCACY UNIT 5 RAU (2014), Women and Elections in Zimbabwe: Insights from the Afrobarometer. June 2014. HARARE: RESEARCH & ADVOCACY UNIT. 6RAU & TWT (2013), Gender Audit of the 2013 Voters’ Roll, July 2013. HARARE: RESEARCH &ADVOCACY UNIT. Page 5