A key observation on election-related engagement online by key influencers showed high levels of negative sentiment expressed on social media centres around the credibility of the electoral process. Although social media provided an alternative source of information about the election, there was an unprecedented increase in fake news and hate speech. Worryingly, a significant proportion of the hate speech was targeted at women in leadership positions at the ZEC, diplomats, and CSOs. The absence of adequate mechanisms to monitor and curb hate speech and fake news on social media was noted to be a major concern during this election. 13 WOMEN AND ELECTIONS Analysis of Gender representation Zimbabwe is a state party to regional and International instruments that recognize the need for, and the removal of, all barriers to women’s participation in politics. These include the1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which recognises the holding of political office as a right for all. Various other instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women, all reiterate the importance of affording women political positions and mandate state parties to eliminate all barriers that prevent women from actively participating in the political sphere. In particular, Article 9 of Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states that ‘State Parties shall take specific positive action to promote participative governance and the equal participation of women in the political life of their countries through affirmative action, enabling national legislation and other measures to ensure that: a. women participate without any discrimination in all elections; b. women are represented equally at all levels with men in all electoral processes…’. However, although Zimbabwe has ratified these frameworks, they have not been domesticated into the country’s laws. At the national level, the Constitution of Zimbabwe mandates the State to promote gender balance in all spheres of life. Section 17 states that the ‘The State must promote full gender balance in Zimbabwean society’. Also, women are guaranteed the same rights as men in terms of Section 56 of the Constitution, to equal treatment, including enjoying equal 73 | P a g e