Do Women Pay a Higher Price for Power? Gender Bias in Political Violence in Sweden

Violence and intimidation against politicians is gaining attention in research on obstacles to political gender equality, but we still do not know whether women experience more violence as politicians than men. This article provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of physical and psycholo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of politics 2021-04, Vol.83 (2), p.515-531
Main Author:	Håkansson, Sandra
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Bias Equality Gender gender and politics gender equality Gender inequality Gender-based violence Hierarchies Intimidation Local government Mayors Media violence Minority groups Perpetrators Political power Political violence Politicians Politics Prices Sexism Violence violence against politicians Visibility Women women's representation
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Violence and intimidation against politicians is gaining attention in research on obstacles to political gender equality, but we still do not know whether women experience more violence as politicians than men. This article provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of physical and psychological gender-based violence against officeholders across the political hierarchy. Based on three waves of survey data on 8,000 local-level politicians in Sweden, I find that the most pronounced gender gap in violence exists among politicians high in the political hierarchy. Female mayors experience far more violence than any other politician. Further, there are indications that women receive a higher penalty than men for media visibility and for supporting minorities. This suggests that perpetrators of political violence are biased toward targeting women, particularly more powerful and visible women. The findings have important implications for understanding the personal price paid for holding positions of political power and how it differs by gender.
ISSN:	0022-3816 1468-2508 1468-2508