__This article is written by #ShePersisted. __

Gendered disinformation and online abuse against women in politics are pervasive to the point of being almost entirely normalised in Peru and tend to reinforce harmful gender stereotypes against women in politics. Women targeted by this abuse report that the social media environment takes an extreme toll on them and their families and report concerns about the potential negative impact on young women’s political ambitions.

The role of digital media in reinforcing barriers against women in politics

A new study investigates the role gendered disinformation and online abuse play in impeding women’s unencumbered participation in politics and in influencing social and gender norms in Peru. Through social media analysis, interviews with congresswomen and desk research, the report identifies the prevalence of gendered disinformation and online abuse against women in politics in Peru and that this is reinforcing harmful gender stereotypes undermining women’s participation in the public sphere.

The study also identifies how digital platforms are complicit in perpetuating the hellscape that women face online, highlighting how platform designs not only reflect pre-existing biases and sexism but amplify them through algorithms designed to boost sensationalising, controversial and emotionally charged content.

In light of this, the report offers recommendations to key Peruvian stakeholders to begin addressing gender-based political violence and abuse on digital platforms.

This report provides an understanding of the threat of gendered disinformation and online abuse to women’s political participation and democracy in Peru and highlights the failure of Big Tech to meaningfully address the gendered harms facilitated by their platforms. It offers specific recommendations for key stakeholders in the country to tackle gendered disinformation and online abuse and serves as a foundation for understanding how social media is weaponised to silence and undermine Peruvian women in politics, posing dangerous ramifications for democracy if unaddressed.

Key takeaways from the report:

  1. Women in politics face pervasive gendered disinformation and online abuse in Peru, which reinforces harmful gender stereotypes.

  2. Peruvian congresswomen report experiencing large amounts of sexist and gendered online attacks, and much of the online commentary they face includes reference to their physical features, intellectual capacity, sexuality and patriarchal conceptualisations of a woman's place in society.

  3. Women who are targeted by online abuse identify social media environments as exhausting, finding this takes an extreme toll on them and their families and may impact the political ambitions of young women.

  4. Gendered disinformation and online abuse are frequently normalised by their targets and increasingly viewed as inevitable for women in politics, which may contribute to challenges in identifying lasting solutions to appropriately address this phenomenon.

  5. Although long-term solutions necessitate digital platforms taking accountability for the harms facilitated by their products, short-term interventions exist which governmental offices, political parties and civil society can initiate to mitigate some of the harm posed by gendered disinformation and online abuse targeting women in politics in Peru. The report will be of particular interest to anyone with an interest in bolstering women’s political participation in Peru and around the world. It importantly outlines key recommendations for governments and governmental institutions, political parties and civil society in Peru to address gendered disinformation and digital harms, and will be of interest for these stakeholders and anyone with a commitment to gender equality and the preservation of democracy.

Report authors:

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