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Key findings:

• 81 % of respondents experienced psychological violence – the most common forms were threats of violence (61 %), intimidating behaviour, and verbal attacks (56 %), 53 % encountered sexist or sexualized remarks
• 42 % of respondents experienced sexualized violence, mainly in the form of sexual harassment
• 11 % reported experiencing physical and economic violence
• age as a risk factor – younger respondents (aged under 40) experience all forms of violence to a greater extent
• threats and intimidating behaviour are more likely to be directed at those women MPs who work on human rights issues
• self-censorship – 28 % of female MPs limited their public activity due to fear of hate speech and attacks
• gender-based difference – 89 % of respondents believe that attacks on women politicians differ from those on male politicians and are often more sexualized and personal
• low reporting rates – particularly regarding threats and sexualized harassment
• dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of existing tools – 27 % of respondents consider protective mechanisms insufficient
• the online space was identified as the primary setting for hate speech

Key findings:

• high prevalence of online hate – nearly half of women politicians report that online attacks discourage them from public appearances
• categorization of hate speech (unique to the Czech context) – sexism (questioning competence, attacks on motherhood); objectification and sexualization; threats of sexual violence and physical harm; dissemination of disinformation, personal data, and manipulated quotes
• main triggers for attacks – criticism of Russia, support for Ukraine, expressing opinions on migration, feminism
• weak legal response – courts often question the public nature of social networks, the reach of the content, or the intent of the perpetrators
• case study – attacks on Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová, includingthreats and publishing her address
• recommendations – strengthen legal definitions of online hate, improve prevention, education, and the responsibility of platforms and state institutions

Main findings and identified gaps:

• no systematic tools for data collection and a lack of relevant studies or research
• however, from the information available, the following conclusions:
  • women in politics in the Czech Republic are frequently targeted by various forms of violence, especially psychological and online violence
  • the online space is the dominant setting for VAWP
  • significant age differences exist in experiences with violence
  • low reporting rates hinder effective legal protection
• substantial data gaps
  • no systematic monitoring of VAWP at regional and local levels
  • lack of research on the impact of violence on election candidates, municipal politicians, and women in unelected positions
  • absence of regular statistics collected by the police or courts specifically addressing VAWP
  • intersectional aspects of violence (ethnicity, age, orientation) are not being tracked
  • lack of comparative analysis with other EU member states

Key findings:

• nearly 90 % of women in the national parliament, the Bundestag, reported experiencing online abuse in 202
• almost 70 % have also faced misogynist threats and comments, i. e., attacks specifically because of their gender

Key findings:

• political violence online contributes to psychological violence and often converges with physical violence
• more than two-thirds of female respondents across all levels have experienced gender-based forms of violence online, including sexist remarks or misogyny as a form of semiotic violence
• almost a quarter (24 %) of politically active women have been threatened with sexualized violence such as threats of rape (whereas only 3 % of men participating in the study share those experiences)
• nearly every second politically active woman (45 %) is affected by gender-based and sexual harassment offline
• gendered differences are most apparent when it comes to threats of physical violence, such as beatings or murder, such threats have been described by 43 % of women, 10 % fewer than among the male respondents
• cyber violence carries over into the analog sphere: 71 % of politicians have experienced at least one incident of offline violence in addition to cyber violence, moreover, 45 % of female respondents who experienced violence online have also experienced sexual and gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, offline – with the instances being related to being politically active
• roughly 20 % of women receive unsolicited pictures of genitals online; another 25 % are afraid that they might be confronted with fake intimate pictures (sexualized deep fakes) or actual recordings of intimate situations disseminated without their consent
• almost 50 % of women (from all political levels) surveyed felt that online violence affected their political activity negatively
• moreover, 49 % of women politicians who experienced cyber violence have at least thought about declining a position/running for a specific office because of a likely increased exposure to threats online and offline
• some, roughly twice as many women as men, have considered quitting politics altogether
• only 24 % of women respondents feel like their institutions (e. g., parties) have sufficient resources to deal with digital violence, and 38 % do not have any information on whether or not there are any resources or support mechanisms available
• when it comes to the needs of people affected, the majority of women (2/3) said that they did not feel sufficiently prepared to deal with digital violence and its consequences
• additionally, 59 % would like to see support in the form of more solidarity within their party or communities
• only 24 % of women respondents feel like their institutions (e. g., parties) have sufficient resources to deal with digital violence, and 38 % do not have any information on whether or not there are any resources or support mechanisms available
• women seem more likely to try to distance themselves mentally from the incident (83 % of women compared to 78 % of men)
• almost half of the women affected online choose to confront the perpetrator or suspect
• judicial responses are often perceived as inadequate, which leads to judicial training and increased political will to act being a common recommendation
• for digital violence, 29 % of women in politics identified attacks as coming from politicians from other parties, 16 % even from within their own party
• about 30 % of respondents have filed criminal complaints, and an additional 8% have filed complaints under civil law
• although the majority of people affected do not seek legal redress for various reasons, some underrepresented groups tend to make more use of those avenues, e. g., politicians with a so-called migrant background or from lower socio-economic classes
• hurdles and resources for those groups might be particularly scarce, but the necessity is evidenced by HateAid’s 2023 transparency report: 522 criminal complaints, 117 legal warnings, and 33 civil suits were filed using their solidarity-based model of litigation funding
• one of the biggest challenges that remain, however, is identifying the perpetrator(s), in cases of online violence, harassment often occurs anonymously through private profiles or pseudonyms; sometimes it is even carried out by bots or trolls (as reported by 54 % of women respondents)
• online violence, as another pervasive form of violence, usually peaks during electoral campaigns, although it affects most male politicians, too
• protection measures for newly campaigning candidates are often described as inadequate; there is a need for (party) resources to be allocated for prevention courses, measures, and assistance in managing incidents
• online, politically active women frequently receive comments and reactions that center on specific markers such as their religion (as well as age, appearance, and relationship status)
• regarding other minoritized genders, few studies provide data for non-binary respondents or consider the third option for gender identities in Germany (“diverse”), the majority of respondents who self-identified their gender as “diverse” experienced cyber violence, thirty-one percent even received threats of physical and sexual violence

Key findings:

• psychological violence appears to be the most commonly experienced form of violence, which coincides with EU-wide data on violence against women in politics
• 32 % of respondents have experienced violence during their political career, and of those that suffered some type of violence 29 % experienced cyberviolence
• only 29 % of those affected by violence had reported experiencing different types of violences, which may not only undermine their personal well-being but also their potential participation in politics *

Key findings:

• women mayors and district administrators are significantly more affected than men (38 % vs. 28 %)
• full-time politicians, even at the local level, were more affected than voluntary or part-time politicians (39 % vs. 20 %), especially in urban areas (40 % vs. 29 % in rural areas)
• women politicians are more affected by threats against members of their family
• across all genders, 83 % of respondents to among mayors and district administrators feel that their personal safety and political career are threatened by disinformation or “deep fakes”
• 81 % of those affected suffer from psychological and/or physical consequences
• 26 % report verbal or written offenses that relate to their physical appearance, 11 % specifically relate to their gender as a reason or point for verbal and written abuse
• 25 % politicians affected ignore the incident
• overall, 75 % of mayors and district administrators surveyed consider it necessary to implement further measures to protect local political officials and elected representatives
• in 79 % of cases, the suspects in the most recent incident were known to those affected, fifty-two percent of the suspects appear to be repeat offenders, ost suspects (78 %) were male, between 40 and 59 years old, and residents of the respective municipality
• women mayors and district administrators were significantly affected by violence during the 2024 European Parliament elections and regional elections in the East German states of Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg, most commonly, verbal harassment and slander, destruction of property, threats of violence, and discrimination were reported, moreover, incidents of stalking, sexual harassment, and sexualized violence, as well as threats of rape
• the political climate and culture of discussion are described as rougher in the eastern part of Germany (the territory of the former GDR), more mayors and district administrators report on attacks online and offline in East Germany than in West Germany (45 % vs. 33 %)

Key findings:

• the total budgets available for successful candidates show that women in the CDU, on average, have more than € 10,000 less available than male candidates in their party
• particularly, funding secured via donations is, on average, 13.000 € less than for men in the CDU
• when parties themselves contribute to financing campaigns, men, on average, get twice as much as women in the CDU
• typically, candidates are expected to include their personal capital
• successful women candidates in both the CDU and SPD contributed more private capital than men, although the differences here are lower than in the other two sources of campaign funding (between € 1,300 for women in the CDU and € 1,600 for women in the SPD)

Key findings:

• roughly a third of local politicians in cities above 100.000 inhabitants admit to having changed their behavior because of threats and assaults; 26 % have even done so without having been targets of violence themselves
• more significantly, this affects women, people from minoritized backgrounds (e. g., people of color or with a statistical “migration background” – according to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (DeStatis), a person has a migration background if they themselves or at least one of their parents were not born with German citizenship), and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds more strongly
• women (as well as people with a so-called “migration background” or from lower socioeconomic classes) are significantly more likely to change their behavior because of threats and attacks against them or their loved ones
• women seem to be less likely to stay silent (10.4 % vs. 18.4 % men)
• more women than men seek advice from family members and friends (69.8 % vs 59.3 % of men) or from party colleagues (67.5 % of women vs. 56.7 % of men)

Key findings:

• in 2023, political violence against women for misogynistic reasons, and in which the perpetrator could be identified, was overwhelmingly (72.8 %) committed by men over the age of 30
• in 2023, 180,715 female victims were recorded in the field of domestic violence – 5.6 percent more than in the previous year
• in sexual offenses, 52,330 female victims were recorded, an increase of 6.2 percent compared to 2022
• 17,193 women were affected by digital violence, 25 percent more than in 2022
• police recorded 938 homicides of women, nine more than the previous year, the homicides of 360 women and girls were completed, and 247 of these victims were victims of domestic violence
• in the case group of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, 591 female victims were registered, 6.9 percent more than in the previous year
• politically motivated crimes against women are covered as a subsection under hate crimes – misogyny, the number of recorded misogynistic offenses has increased by 56.3 % compared to the previous year; 45 % of all misogynistic crimes were committed out of a right-wing motivation, and another 42.2 % cannot be attributed to a motivation under the categories of the monitoring, nine percent of all politically motivated misogynistic crimes were registered as violent crimes
• in 2023 and 2022, 37.7 % of offenses were committed online
• for politicians from lower economic classes, although, overall, women seem to file charges less than men (22.6 % vs. 27.7 %)
• physical violence seems to be experienced more frequently by politicians from lower socio-economic classes than by colleagues from other classes in urban areas
• although only a tiny number of non-binary local politicians have been surveyed in 2022, 77 % (10 out of N=13) have personally been targets of insults, threats, and even physical assault ‘

Key findings:

• the President of the previous legislative period, Bärbel Bas (Social Democrats, SPD), has commented on a significant deterioration of the discussion climate since the party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD – on May 2, 2025, the party was classified as an extremist right-wing party by the German Domestic Intelligence Services (BfV), the party subsequently filed a lawsuit and an emergency appeal, which led to the BfV suspending the classification for the time being, a final decision on the classification needs to be made by a court) entered the Bundestag in 2017: “It has become more aggressive, it has become more discriminatory towards the MPs themselves. And I think that‘s a big difference compared to previous years.”
• she added that one of the consequences of testing the waters with sexist comments, discriminatory, and disrespectful language is a shift of the boundaries towards what can publicly be said, ultimately, this would also result in action that goes beyond verbal attacks

Key findings:

• political violence recently spiked during electoral campaigns
• ultimately, there seems to be a shift occurring where more MPs and prominent politicians are affected rather than “just” local representatives

Key findings:

• within the German super election year of 2024, reported attacks against political representatives spiked 30 % compared to the previous year
• among the reported crimes against elected officials, party members, and campaign volunteers, insults and bodily harm follow property destruction as the most common offenses

Key findings:

• verbal attacks against politicians have been publicly framed as part of the job, covered by free speech, or even as a legitimate expression of frustration from isolated individuals who have taken it too far, if a person, specifically a woman, could not handle it, they were considered the problem
• 16.8 % of women interviewed have received sexist comments online (whereas only 3.1 % of male respondents received such comments)
• it might be more difficult for women to acquire the means for electoral campaigns when running for mayor as well as at the regional and national levels, this more indirect form of discrimination, however, is often due to underlying gendered dynamics of poverty and resource allocation as well as a perceived legitimacy or entitlement to fundraise for one’s own benefit
• younger women politicians (under the age of 45) receive the highest number of sexist online attacks (35.7 %)

Key findings

• although members of the AfD are themselves victims of political violence and attacks online and offline at a large scale, many of the affected victims form other parties identify the AfD as perpetrators or allude to them as drivers of an increasingly discriminatory and misogynist political climate in the Bundestag, 64 % of female MPs received misogynist threats in 2021, mostly online 36 % of MPs experienced attacks against their offices or private homes, although this number was summarized along with physical assaults

Key findings:

• politicians and activists face extensive and organized harassment
  • ranging from misogynistic smear campaigns and sexualized disinformation to threats and doxxing
  • often amplified through social media platforms, especially Facebook, hese platforms have failed to implement effective moderation or fact-checking mechanisms in Hungary, allowing the spread of gendered abuse with impunity
• many of the most prominent critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s concentration of power are women, which makes them frequent targets of digital hate campaigns, as the authors put it, “it comes as no surprise that they have been at the center of his online disinformation and hate campaigns, which in turn are becoming an ever more prominent aspect of Hungary’s slide towards authoritarianism (page 4)”
• Orbán’s own 2015 statement —“women cannot stand the stress” of politics — is cited as a high-level example of sexism in Hungarian political culture, the government has responded to criticism about gender imbalance by engaging in what the report calls genderwashing — appointing a few highly visible women, such as President Katalin Novák, who are fully aligned with its anti-gender ideology and promote a traditional, heteronormative vision of society (page 9)
• Hungarian MP Zita Gurmai describes the current political environment as “extremely violent, ”where“ ad hominem attacks are the norm, not the exception”, according to the report, this toxic atmosphere deters women from entering or remaining in politics, thus eroding democratic participation and gender equality (page 13)
• gendered disinformation has become an ever more common tactic in Hungary to attack “strong, empowered women,” reports Anna Fejős, a sociologist who has researched online hate speech in Hungary, including women in politics, as well as women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights activists (page 15)
• the most common disinformation narratives against women in politics in Hungary involve being untrustworthy (e. g., being a foreign agent – often somehow tied to George Soros – or having misappropriated public funds for personal gain) or unqualified (e. g., stupid, superficial or a weak puppet for powerful male leaders on the left), as a result, the women targeted “are simultaneously depicted as ‘ugly’ and ‘stupid,’ but also ‘dangerous,’ in the sense that they aim to destroy conservative norms
• according to Fejős, these disinformation campaigns build on sexism in society and perpetuate gender stereotypes that promote “conservative roles for women,” and attack those who dare to deviate from the “norm (page 16)”
• targeted most viciously are women in opposition politics, particularly those who defy Orbán’s actions, support LGBTQI+ rights and women’s rights, fight against racism or call out anti-Semitic behavior

Key findings:

• abuse that Irish politicians received on Twitter appeared to increase in response to significant political events or controversies or in the discussion of issues of high salience
• the research identified communities with prolific abusive accounts characterised by their political affiliation
• the report revealed no significant difference between the number of abusive tweets female members of the Dail (the Lower House) received compared to their male counterparts; this was not the case for female members of the Seanad (the Senate) or of local councils
• female local councillors received ~8 times as many abusive tweets per follower compared to their male counterparts, while female Senators received ~3 times as many abusive tweets per follower as their male counterparts
• the author observed that this disparity in the relative amount of abuse women receive compared to men within local government and the Seanad is of particular concern, as these two offices are the most common paths to entering the Dáil and may be one of the many disincentives to women to running for election
• it may also have a chilling effect, leading women not to use soc ial media platforms, this impacts their communication or recognition with voters and their chances of being elected to the Dáil so effectively could operate as a barrier to women entering politics

Key findings

• clear gendered patterns in the frequency, type, and effects of political violence – compared to men, women are more frequently targeted, more often subjected to degrading language and false rumours, and more likely to experience violence with sexual undertones
• these experiences tend to have a greater negative impact on women, who are also more likely than men to report a reduced willingness to seek election in the future
• however, this effect is not uniform: among those already elected, women public representatives do not express greater reluctance to run again compared to their male counterparts
• the research was guided by six hypotheses:
  1. female politicians will experience more violence than male politicians
  2. male and female politicians will experience different forms of violence
  3. female politicians are more likely than male politicians to experience violence with sexual connotations
  4. female politicians are likely to face more internal party violence than their male counterparts
  5. female politicians will feel more constrained than men in their contributions and agenda-setting abilities, in the face of political violence
  6. in the face of political violence, more women than men are likely to opt out of politics
• when asked whether violence and intimidation are a normal part of political life in Ireland, 15.6% of respondents agreed it is, while 51.7% acknowledged that it occurs occasionally, a further 32.7% rejected the notion entirely
• despite this, the vast majority – 75% – reported experiencing at least one form of political violence, with most having faced multiple forms
• although physical violence was relatively rare (reported by 10.2%), other forms of abuse were significantly more prevalent, two-thirds (67%) experienced degrading talk or false rumours, 36% received threats, 27% experienced property damage, and 33% reported intimidation directed at their associates
• among those who experienced degrading talk or false rumours, 40% reported that the abuse was sexual in nature, similarly, of those who received threats, 25% said the threats had a sexual dimension
• while incidents of physical violence were relatively rare, the majority (82.9%) were nonsexual in nature, highlighting the particularly gendered nature of verbal and psychological forms of political violence
• women running for election in Ireland are disproportionately affected by political violence, controlling for age, political prominence, and party affiliation, women experience political violence at a rate 1.2 times higher than men
• they are particularly targeted with degrading talk and false rumours, occurring 2.3 times more frequently than for male candidates, moreover, when women are subjected to such abuse, it is more likely to be sexual in nature
• this gendered pattern also extends to threats, with women more frequently receiving threats of a sexual nature than their male counterparts
• while most politicians do not report limiting their public or political statements due to political violence, the impact on women is more pronounced, women were more likely than men to report feeling fearful as a result of their political engagement, they were also more likely to express reduced political ambition, including reluctance to run for office in the future
• however, this effect was not observed among elected women, who were no more likely than their male colleagues to consider withdrawing from political life
• the authors urge caution on this point however, given the small number of respondents
• the authors conclude that the findings of the study, while based on Irish data, are not unusual in a global context, pointing to international research that highlights the devastating impact of political violence on democracy

Key findings

• Widespread Threats and Harassment – over 63 % of respondents experienced threats, intimidation, or harassment between April 2021 and September 2023, with nearly 26 % facing them at the time of the survey
• Types of Threats – threats included violence, harm to family members, property damage, arson, death threats, and sexual violence
• Medium of Threats – 38 % received threats via social media (a decrease from 2021), while 33 % faced them in person (similar to 2021 levels)
• Emotional Impact – more than 56 % felt worried or extremely worried, with over 50 % considering leaving their roles due to the abuse
• Lack of Preparedness – 66 % felt unprepared or only moderately prepared to handle these threats slightly improved from 2021
• Low Confidence in Current Measures – only 6.7 % rated current preventative and response measures as very effective, indicating a need for better support
• Low Prosecution Rates – just 3.5 % of cases reported to An Garda Síochána led to prosecutions, a marginal increase from 2021
• Other Reporting Channels – threats were also reported to political parties (13.4 %), local authorities (14.6 %), and social media platforms (6.6 %)
• Follow-Up Support – only 19 % received advice or intervention after reporting, a slight improvement over 2021 overall, the survey highlighted a persistent and serious problem with threats against councillors, inadequate preparedness and support, and minimal legal consequences for perpetrators

Key findings:

• a high prevalence of abuse against Oireachtas members with 94% of respondents stating that they experienced some form of threat, harassment, abuse or violence; 73% stated that they experience abuse on social media frequently and 36% reported occasionally experiencing abuse when socialising in a personal capacity and 35% at social events while participating as politicians
• the most frequent types of abuse reported were use of abusive language (52%), use of prejudicial slurs (38%), publication of false information (34%), comments on physical appearance (35%), spread of malicious and false rumours (27%), and persistent unwanted telephone calls/messages (21%)
• when asked whether there were specific issues which led to abuse being experienced, respondents mentioned immigration (67%), women’s rights (47%) housing/homelessness (40%), and LGBTQ+ issues (40%)
• a significant association between gender and the type of abuse experienced, women politicians were more likely to experience digital harassment, to be subjected to prejudicial slurs, to be threatened with sexual violence, to be sexually harassed, to receive unwanted sexual approaches and sexually explicit messages, and were more likely to receive comments on their appearance

Key findings:

• all of the political parties that responded indicated that their party constitution or code of conduct addresses threats, abuse, intimidation, bullying, harassment, and violence against or by party members, all seven who responded stated that they have codes of conduct regulating members’ online behaviour, but only four of those specifically address protecting female members from online abuse
• a range of different approaches to protecting female members, with four mentioning trolling of female members, two mentioning regulations that protect female members against image-based sexual abuse and just one party stating that it protects members against doxxing
• finding that while five of the seven parties referred to gender equality values in party documentation, they did not all have specific internal structures for women members, such as a women’s group or network
• the majority of parties have staff designated as an equality officer or similar, and five of the parties have a designated officer in charge of recruiting minority groups into politics, there were considerable differences between the parties on reporting mechanisms, with little evidence of procedures specifically designed to deal with reports of online abuse, leaving them to be dealt with under regular complaints mechanisms
• overall the study found that reporting occurs, some procedures follow, but it is unclear how many cases go unreported and whether the procedures actually address the issue
• women in politics can experience violence and abuse not only from the public but also from fellow politicians and party members
• while most political parties report having guidelines to regulate online behaviour between members, these are generally standard complaint procedures and not specifically designed to address gendered or online abuse
• internal party mechanisms typically only apply when either the perpetrator or the victim is a member of the party, in cases where the perpetrator is from a rival party or is an independent politician, the same general procedures are used
• critically, when abuse comes from members of the public, none of the surveyed parties have dedicated internal procedures to support their women members, highlighting a significant gap in protection and response
• none of the parties reported any procedures to collect data on online abuse against women members, all of the parties that participated in the study said that they provide training to female candidates regarding their online presence, including on social media, two parties stated that they offer counselling support to women candidates impacted by online abuse
• the report stating that while the results suggest that political parties have made efforts to strengthen women’s participation in politics and are generally aware of the need to prevent and combat VAWIP, their policies, procedures and current practices are not yet fit for purpose
• it making a number of recommendations for political parties regarding leadership in communicating intolerance of VAWIP, the expansion of equality functions in political parties, enhanced policies, procedures and reporting mechanisms, support for women candidates, active engagement with members on the issue, and the collection of data

Key findings:

• the nature and scale of violence, harassment and other forms of intimidation during the General Election was markedly different to the local/European elections, in general, there was less on-the-ground targeting and more efforts concentrated online
• explicit racist, misogynistic and anti-Muslim slurs were used in targeted acts of hate and harassment against women and candidates with a migrant background
• 20 candidates used threatening rhetoric against other elected politicians on online platforms
• a combined 90 % of all incidents featured social media, illustrating the central role that online platforms occupy in the hate, harassment and targeting of candidates

Key findings

• violence and racist and sexist abuse and harassment experienced by minoritised women and the particular vulnerability of local politicians, as sexist and racist abuse has more impact as it is more personalised and proximate, often the case that minoritised women access or engage in political life at the local level
• all interviewees acknowledged sexism and racism as part of their political experience, with varying levels of detail, and all cited incidences of abuse and harassment on social media, some recounted abuse and harassment that occurred in public spaces or while canvassing
• in a subsequent submission to the Task Force on Safe Participation in Public Life, the authors stressed the importance of applying an intersectional lens to any policy or legal commitments directed towards ensuring the safe participation in public life of minoritised women
• they also highlighted how the erosion of women’s rights is part of the racist and xenophobic playbook of far-right organisations that include support for democratic backsliding and describe political polarisation as a gendered and racialised phenomenon

Key findings

• over 20 local councillors of a migrant background were elected, representing an over 100% increase on the 2019 results, where just nine candidates with a migrant background were elected
• in 2019, 53 candidates of migrant background were reported as running, and that number more than doubled in 2024 to 120 candidates
• 49% of candidates were women in 2024 compared to 35% in 2019
• all of the successful candidates in 2024 were party nominees and all but three were elected in urban areas
• 55% of successfully elected candidates of a migrant background were women, compared to 26% in the general cohort of councillors
• 74% of candidates reported that they were victimised by racism and harassment during the election campaign, with 1 in 3 stating that this was experienced frequently, the types of harassment experienced by both men and women candidates is detailed in the table below which was included in the report
• most candidates (81%) experienced some form of abuse on social media, 78% experienced verbal abuse, and 26 % received threats of violence, 3% of candidates of a migrant background reported being assaulted
• in terms of impact, experiences of racism, discrimination and political violence caused 41% of candidates to change their campaign strategy such as limiting canvassing or social media presence, 50% took unplanned breaks to take care of their mental health with more women than men reporting having done this
• 25% limited poster usage and 17% limited attendance at community events
• the majority of candidates who experienced abuse spoke to someone about their experience, but less than half reported it to the appropriate authorities, with mixed experiences of being taken seriously and receiving follow-up
• in summary, candidates from migrant backgrounds were disproportionately targeted by political violence during the June 2024 local elections, with female candidates experiencing higher levels of abuse than their male counterparts
• the most common form of abuse was communicative in nature, including harassment on social media, verbal threats, and abusive phone calls, in addition to these personal attacks, many candidates also faced deliberate efforts to undermine their campaigns by disrupting access to resources and obstructing their ability to carry out effective electoral strategies

Key findings

• in the most recent parliamentary elections in 2023, 33 women candidates were elected into the national parliament making them 22% of all parliamentarians, currently as of May 2025 the number of female parliamentarians stands at 35 (23.3%)
• the election success rate of women candidates in the election of 2023 stands at 5% and the success rate of male candidates at 5.9%, the ratio was slightly more favourable in 2020, when it was 5.2% to 5.7%
• these statistics also show that young women under 30 are the least likely age-group to be elected into parliament; their election rate stood at 2% in 2023, followed by women aged over 61 with the election rate of 3.1 % compared to 5.9% for men in the same age category
• the most gender balanced distribution is in the European parliament with seven women and eight men representatives, where women experienced the biggest success in the proportion of candidates versus elected representatives, 88 to seven for women and 204 to eight for men
• on the other hand, women’s representation in the governmental bodies of self-governing region is only 17%, making it the least gender balanced
• women make up 26.5% of municipal and town mayors and 27.1% of municipal governments
• Slovak Republic had one women president in its history, in the period between 2019 and 2024, in that election there were two women candidates to 11 male candidates
• in the most recent presidential elections in June 2024, for the first time in history there was no women candidate and nine male candidates
• when it comes to ministers, as of May 2025 there are two (13%) women ministers, at the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Culture. After the parliamentary elections in September 2023, there was also a women Minister of Health, who stepped down
• the highest proportion of women ministers in any government was five out of 15, (33%) during the period in 2018–2020 and during the period of interim government of civil servants in 2023

Key findings:

• 83% of respondents in Slovakia agreed that men are more ambitious than women when it comes to politics, compared to the EU average of 47% respondents agreeing, which demonstrates considerably higher agreement with stereotypical perception of men’s characteristics related to political life
• there is only a small difference in the agreement of Slovak men and women, with 85% and 81% respectively, and the data further shows that men aged 40–54 and women aged 55+ tend to agree with the statement the most
• another surveyed stereotype was related to women being more likely to make decisions based on their emotions than men, with 76% of Slovak respondents agreeing compared to the EU average of 62%
• 78% of Slovak men and 74% of women agree with the statement, with men aged 15-24 being the most likely to agree between all age categories and both genders, with the rate of 84%

Key findings

• general low sensitivity towards more balanced representation of men and women in decision-making, with almost half of respondent being sort-of or completely satisfied with women’s representation in regional and municipal governments (55%), in the parliament (46%) and in the government (45%), especially considering that women’s representation in these has steadily been around 20–30 % and oftentimes significantly lower in governments
• men show higher rates of satisfaction with women’s representation than women (see Table 2) and display considerable high levels of satisfaction in general – between 63% to 55% of men consider women’s political representation satisfactory, whereas women’s actual representation is around 20–30%
• men are less sensitive to equal participation of women and men in politics
• the most commonly perceived barriers to women’s increased participation in politics, where respondents rated eight formerly identified barriers as rather or very significant barrier or rather or not significant at all, the barrier, which was perceived as the most significant was women’s household and childcare responsibilities (79%), followed by male domination in politics and their intent to keep their power and decision-making (77%) and lack of support and understanding by women’s partners (73%), perception of politics as dirty and ruthless and therefore unsuited and unattractive to women (74%)
• the threats and consequences of VAWP are not included as a barrier, but both the perceived importance of male domination in politics and the perception of politics as dirty and ruthless (77 % of women compared to 71 % of men consider this barrier as mostly or very significant) can be linked to women’s exposure to violence and harassment in politics, due to the perception of them not belonging into it
• the authors then analyse the impact of these perceptions on general assessment of equal opportunities of women and men running for parliamentary elections, with three factors being the most impactful: structural barrier of women having less favourable positions on candidate lists, lack of understanding and support from a partner and male domination in politics

Key findings:

• results confirming that women politicians are oftentimes targeted and harassed for their appearance, age, sexuality, genderidentity, personal lives or supposed incompetence but most prominently for their political beliefs and values
• most reported forms of violence included online abuse and harassment, often sexualized, but also physical or verbal attacks in person, one respondent reported having a stalker for an extended time period and few reported receiving death-threats targeting them and their family
• the findings further identified coordinated patterns of online harassment and violence against women politicians representing pro-European and progressive values like democracy, human rights, gender equality or showing support to Ukraine during the war
• the reported consequences of exposure to violence include self-censorship, retreat from social media or politics in general and even change in their professional expertise to limit the exposure to violence associated with certain topics, such as migrant and refugee rights or Roma rights and inclusion
• findings also underscore a widespread lack of trust in institutions and law enforcement, where the responsibility to deal with the violence and its consequences is individualised, without access to targeted support or reporting mechanisms
• multiple interviewed politicians outsource the management of their social media or email accounts to their assistants to go through, delete and block violent or abusive content
• some MPs also utilise special online features to automatically flag and remove certain content, few MPs report particularly violent content to a Ministry of Justice department dealing with extremism, but they made note that if doesn’t seem to function since after election restructuring
• there is a strong perceived lack of accountability for perpetrators, who are sometimes openly and publicly accepted and even supported by certain public officials from opposing political parties
• several respondents mentioned they took legal action against the perpetrators, but the court cases were still ongoing or took several years to be resolved

Key findings:

• results demonstrating that women were targeted in 88% of posts compared to men attacked in 66% of posts
• majority of attacks on women were targeted against the then president Zuzana Čaputová and the journalist Monika Tódová, followed by Veronika Remišová, who previously served as Minister for Informatisation, Regional Development and Investments
• most common for both genders were attacks based on moral ideals, including accusations of selling out, media manipulation, lobbying or anti-LGBTQ+ narratives
• women were more often attacked or targeted for their intellectual abilities and to a lesser extent for their, skills and competencies, age, use of misogyny and sexism and appearance
• the conclusions of the research showing that women experience more online violence compared to male figures and most of the analysed violent posts were coordinated and published by other political actors or disinformation media and personalities

Key findings:

• the mapping confirmed the wide-spread presence of anti-liberal, anti-progressive and antidemocratic narratives aimed at activists or civil-society organizations representatives or figures who publicly support or advocate for movement against climate change and ecology, rights of migrants and refugees, Roma and LGBTQ+ minorities
• the report further underscores the presence of hate-speech in comments under posts across the whole political spectrum, their presence as not always linked to hate speech in the post itself and a general normalization and acceptance of hate speech and related narratives on social media and the absence of fair discussion and public discourse