Low Standards? The Levels of Normative Demand of the Legislation to Combat Violence Against Women in Politics in Latin America

Abstract

Parity democracies require that women exercise politics without violence. The paper analyzes and compares how Latin American states have regulated political violence on a gender basis. From the application of the Normative Demand Index (IEN) (Freidenberg and Gilas, 2020) to the legislation of ten countries in Latin America, it is measured through different dimensions (conceptualization, coordination, protection, sanction, and repairation) and the scope of the norms and compares them with each other. The results of the investigation show the differences between the political systems of the region, having some demanding legislation (Mexico), others less (Ecuador, Panama) while the majority has a few accounts with weak regulations (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay). These findings evidence the need to promote reforms of institutional frameworks to guarantee the protection of the political and electoral rights of women.