CASE SPOTLIGHT
Female presidential candidates face an uphill battle in their campaign, Afghanistan
(Source: BBC News)Shahla Atta and Frozan Fana are the female presidential candidates for the 2009 presidential elections .They faced an uphill battle in their campaign as in Afghanistan a woman showing an uncovered face on a poster can come with violent repercussions.
Grave Harassment by Police, Bangladesh
(Source: Incidents that changed The Course of Women Politicians: A Case StudyAlima Sultana who held the post of Woman Secretary of Bangladesh Chhattra League experienced physical violence during 2003-2004.She was beaten the Police while picketing in a hartal and was arrested. She was also gravely harassed by the police together with senior leaders and remained in Police custody for 24 hours.
Character Assassination by publishing pamphlet, India
(Source: Incidents that changed The Course of Women Politicians: A Case Study)Ratnnamala Vaidya faced bad tactics of opposition party during the district level election. Since 1994 she had been wining the elections of Gram Panchayat. She has done very good village development work. People appreciate her a lot. This created problems for her. In 2006, at the time of the Zilha Parishad (district level) election, the opposition party started spreading rumors that her character was bad, she had two husbands etc. They also published pamphlet, which amounted to character assassination in the worst form. As a result she was defeated in the election.
Violence from In-Laws, Nepal
(Source: Incidents that changed The Course of Women Politicians: A Case Study)Bagwati Pokhrel had to struggle with her in-laws to attend any political or social issues. Her Father in-law beat her at election booth due to her husband's affiliation to the opposition party. Even her party did not support her against such violence.
Threats of acid throwing, Pakistan
(Source: Incidents that changed The Course of Women Politicians: A Case Study)Fakhra Naureen belongs to middle class family .During the 2005 election campaign for local government some people tortured her and tore her clothes. They also threatened her to throw acid on her face if she continued participating in politics.
Obstacles as women politician, Sri Lanka
(Source: UNESCAP)Sunethra Wickramasingha is presently a member of the opposition of the Council for Colombo. She is responsible for identifying problems related to decisions and implementations made by the ruling party. According to her, she did not face any obstacles as a woman when entering politics or running for office, but she faced them as a politician. She had to face several threats from opposition candidates and parties during election time.
