UN Women, in partnership with the Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA), has been following such violence in Nigeria since the start of the elections process in 2011, in which more than 500 people have died as a result of electoral violence following the country’s presidential elections earlier this month.
The monitoring is part of an ongoing pilot study and initiative in Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe to track real-time incidents of violence against women in politics.
During polling days, trained volunteers use a toolkit to make phone calls from a designated hub to collect real-time information from accredited elections observers and monitors who are out in the field.
The report of findings from the pilot study is expected to feed into the final reports on the elections by both national and international observers.