The NGOs that promote the rights of women and gender equality call on the authorities to adopt a law that would envision punishments for hate speech and instigation of discrimination in the public sphere. The political parties are advised to draft an internal code of conduct by which to ban or penalize this type of speech given that the women in 2019 more often became the target of hate speech and sexist messages, especially in election campaigns.
In a news conference at IPN, Nina Lozinski, secretary general of the Gender Equality Platform, said they recommend the Central Election Commission to introduce the phenomenon of violence in elections in its training and monitoring programs. “The women’s organizations of political parties can play a fundamental role in fighting this phenomenon, but common work should be done in this regard. The political parties and responsible institutions should design a punishment mechanism,” stated Nina Lozinski.
Irina Korobchenko, educational programs manager at Promo-LEX Association that forms part of the Gender Equality Platform, said the media outlets should develop guidebooks for diminishing the phenomenon of hate speech intended for journalists.
According to the Gender Equality Platform, in the campaigns prior to the elections of 2019, 52% of the female candidates were subject to an act of violence and only 15% of these reported the phenomenon. The information was presented in connection with the campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence”.
In 2018, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance said the prejudice against the social groups, including women, perpetuates hate in the public sphere. The public authorities’ inaction, inefficient punishment mechanisms and imperfect legislation lead to the intensification of hate speech.
