Opening the event, WFD Country Director, Ms. Tabu Njie Sarr, described the study as a critical intervention aimed at strengthening inclusive and democratic political participation.
“Democracy cannot thrive if half of the population is excluded from decision-making,” she said, noting that violence against women in politics is deeply rooted in patriarchal norms and power structures that discourage women from seeking or sustaining leadership roles.
She explained that independent consultants were engaged to ensure credibility and depth, drawing parallels with WFD’s earlier research on the cost of politics in The Gambia. The report, she added, was validated last year to ensure accuracy and stakeholder ownership, before its official launch.
According to Ms. Sarr, the research is a practical, policy-oriented tool designed to generate evidence-based solutions for policymakers, political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and development partners to dismantle structural, cultural, and institutional barriers limiting women’s political participation.
Presenting the report, Mrs. Yadicon Njie Eribo, one of the consultants, said violence against women in politics remains a deliberate political mechanism used to silence, delegitimise, and exclude women from power.
She revealed that women currently occupy only 8.6 percent of seats in the National Assembly, a figure driven by systemic barriers including campaign financing challenges, biased party processes, disinformation, sexual harassment, online abuse, and widespread impunity.
Despite The Gambia’s legal commitments to gender equality, she said women in politics continue to face physical, psychological, economic, sexual, digital, and structural violence, often normalised within party culture.
The study adopted a qualitative, trauma-informed methodology, involving interviews, focus group discussions, listening circles, and secondary data from 98 respondents across several regions, with strict measures taken to ensure confidentiality.
Mrs. Eribo noted that psychological violence emerged as the most pervasive form, causing severe emotional trauma and often pushing women to withdraw from political life due to the absence of psychosocial support systems.
