Digital political violence: empowering women

This event brought together more than 50 women leaders from the provinces of Coclé, Veraguas, Herrera, West Panama, Panama City, and Colón, held as part of the Orange Day. Its main objective was to raise awareness and learn about the growing digital political violence against women in the political sphere and propose mechanisms to address it.

During the workshop, the participants shared their personal experiences with political violence, particularly digital violence, during the last elections.  

These valuable testimonies will contribute to the next Clara González Report (2017-2024). Documenting these experiences is essential to fully understand and effectively combat these forms of violence and contribute to a clearer and more equitable outlook for the political future for women.

The day included a keynote speech by Alicia Del Águila, Program Manager for International IDEA in Panama. In her presentation, “Digital political violence with a gender focus: a regional perspective,” Del Águila offered a contextualized analysis of this phenomenon in the region.

Del Águila explored how new technologies have transformed political violence, disproportionately affecting women. She addressed the various manifestations of this violence in the digital sphere—from harassment and misinformation—which can escalate to physical harm, and how these tactics seek to silence, discredit, and exclude women from spaces of power. The regional perspective highlighted patterns and similarities in various Latin American countries.

The meeting was attended by Erika Jiménez, head of the Electoral Tribunal's Office of Gender Equality; Miriam Castillo, general secretary of FONAMUPP; Corina Cano, president of APARLEXPA; and Gloria Young, executive director of the Center for Gender Studies and Competencies (CEGCE) and coordinator of the VIII Clara González Report.

Every 25th of the month, International IDEA and the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, commemorate #OrangeDay, a global initiative that seeks to promote gender equality and address violence against women and girls by promoting concrete measures to combat it in all its forms.