In my community/ward, there was just one female candidate running for councillor. To my dismay, she faced discrimination from fellow women looking down upon her as they dissed her for not being a good leader and people had already concluded that she could not lead or win the position. Moreso, it was said that she was just there for money and that she was dating an MP so they already concluded her downfall.
This bias, I have discovered, led many young women in my community to be afraid of standing up and advocating for change because they are afraid of what people will say, they do not have confidence and they are afraid of getting zero support. Fear of being bullied is what is discouraging them from wanting to stand up for themselves.
On the issue of violence, there is really no violence caused by these elections in my community. Everything went well peacefully and in harmony. There were no fights or arguments. Everyone came and practised their right to vote including young women and went back in a peaceful manner. Despite it all, the attitude of the people in my community was really positive as I have discovered that a lot of people came and exercised the right to vote. There is only a need to change the attitude of their mindset that believes that women cannot lead. There is a need to engage all women and men in educating them about gender equality so that we can have the same opportunities.
In conclusion, there is more need to educate young women and men about leadership because there is little information among them, but all in all the election process went well without any violence.