ZESN - Promoting Democratic Elections in Zimbabwe 53 Fig 10: Comparison between Male and Female Candidates by Political Party for the 2018 Elections 100% 91% As illustrated in Figure 11 below, there were very few female National Assembly candidates: 1648 candidates contested and, of those, only 237 were female. Only 14% of women managed to contest in the election. Of those who contested, only 26 were elected versus 29 women who were elected in 2013. This means that there has been a 2% decrease in the number of women elected in 2018.54 90% 81% 80% 80% 60% 40% 20% 19% 20% 9% 0% Zanu PF 10% MDC Alliance Men PRC MDC-T Women Figure 11: Male and Female National Assembly Candidates by Province NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: FEMALES VS MALES PER PROVINCE NOMINATION COURT RESULTS 250 237 200 172 167 161 150 141 129 122 Female 105 100 50 Male 88 82 83 37 22 11 16 18 11 13 16 17 50/50 WiPSU WOMEN in POLITICS SUPPORT UNIT 0 Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Harare Metropolitan Province Manicaland Mashonaland Province Central Province Mashonaland Mashonaland East West Province Province Masvingo Province Matabeleland North Province Matabeleland South Province Midlands Province Source: WiPSU From the above graphs, it is clear that the number of women who contest as candidates in political parties remains significantly low as compared to their male counterparts. This shows that the barriers that exist in preventing women from participating in politics Ff not addressed, the trend may continue or even worsen. In the run up to the elections, ZESN observed that the political environment was toxic and misogynistic, making it very difficult for female candidates and female commissioners to participate without being called derogatory names. Female candidates suffered a lot of abuse and name calling especially on social media. For example, an aspiring female councillor was mocked before party primary elections simply because she is a single mother. In some wards, aspiring female councillors were labelled illiterate and old, thus supposedly not fit for 53 the office of council. Personal and scandalous allegations were levelled against female candidates and commissioners. The 2018 female representation is worrying. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that legal provisions that guarantee quotas for women in parliament will end in 2023.Parliament could have 10-15% female representation if nothing drastic is done to improve women's participation and remove all barriers that prohibit women from participating effectively. After the 2018 harmonised elections Zimbabwe's ranking on the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Index of Women in Parliament fell by 13 places. In 2013 Zimbabwe was ranked number 28 of the countries that have the highest percentage of women in Parliament while, in 2018, the ranking fell to number 41. Photo credit to Women in Politics Support Unit www.wipsu.co.zw This is according to Women in Politics Support Unit www.wipsu.co.zw 54 53 REPORT ON THE 30 JULY 2018 HARMONISED ELECTIONS ZESN