Violence against women in elections (VAW-E) is a particular form of electoral violence, motivated by a desire to prevent women as women from participating in the electoral process, and which sees women attacked for daring to enter or participate in elections. We are pleased to announce the US launch of NDI's Votes Without Violence toolkit for citizen observers. The toolkit includes guidance and a set of practical tools and resources that can be used directly by observers and practitioners to monitor and mitigate electoral violence against women effectively.

GWD has been working in partnership with Thomas Carothers, vice president for studies and director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to explore the ways democracy assistance treats the issue of gender equality and women's political empowerment in various political environments. In this partnership, GWD commissioned an in-depth research paper from Mr. Carothers to fill an important gap in the discussion of international aid for democracy and to advance current thinking toward "strategic differentiation" in identifying the kinds of programs that would be most effective in supporting different groups ability to influence wider change. Read NDI's write-up here, and the paper here.

The International Day of Democracy was September 15.Though the topic is never far from our minds at NDI, today the world remembers the importance of democratic systems everywhere. In celebration of democracy today, and every day, NDI's Government Relations and Communications team has created a short video: #MyVoteMySuperpower. #MyVoteMySuperpower highlights the importance of youth participation in democratic processes. Watch the video here.

Violence should never be the cost of politics -- and our campaign to make sure it isn't was launched at our #NotTheCost Conference on March 17th in New York City. Register for a copy of our Call to Action, which provides practical tools for stopping violence against women in politics, and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NotTheCost.

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