Political Harassment Research Articles

Doing politics from the margins: ethnicity, harassment and gender-based political violence case study of former councilors in the department of La Paz, 2015-2021

This article discusses the application of Law 243 on Violence and Political Harassment in Councilors and Mayors of the department of La Paz who served during the 2015 - 2021 mandate period, emphasizing the work of the Association of Councilors and Mayors of La Paz. ACOLAPAZ in the attention and representation of complaints of Violence and Political Harassment (VAP) and the expressions of violence manifested towards this group during the mentioned period, reflecting through the ethnographic method and in-depth interviews on said problem; as well as the contemporary conditions of violence in Bolivia and the differences due to gender and ethnicity.

Acoso político: Revisión de sus dimensiones aplicadas a los casos registrados en Perú

The identification of the political harassment’s cases in Peru has omitted their full dimensions. They are wrongly classified as belonging to a single type. The methodology that will be applied to analyze the cases of political harassment registered in Peru will be qualitative, since it seeks to examine the political harassment testimonies using a scheme proposed by Bardall, Bjarnegård and Piscopo. Political harassment is a phenomenon with a recent visibility that demands the correct identification of its dimensions to make its prevention, sanction and eradication measures more appropriate in Peru.

Social media, democracy, and freedom of expression: Some evidence from Ghana

A qualitative condensed thematic research design was adopted to examine the effects of social media utilization and its likely effects on democracy and the freedom of expression among the citizens in Ghana. An in-depth interview was conducted to solicit data from thirty (N=30) respondents. Twenty-five (n=25) out of the 30 respondents are journalists and media professionals from key private media organizations, while the remaining five (n=5) are democracy and governance scholars from two major universities in Ghana. A key finding from this study suggest that, social media platforms have strongly safeguarded and consolidated the democratic dispensation within Ghana. The application of social media in Ghana have also resulted in hindrances such as hate speech, political harassment as well an increase in fake news in the form of misinformation and disinformation. This study recommends a well-coordinated national policy on effective social media use in Ghana to further enhance democracy and freedom of expression.

Demystifying disinformation shadow economies: fake news work models in Indonesia and the Philippines

ABSTRACT Engaging with the special issue theme of media freedom ‘from below,’ this article contributes ethnographically grounded and comparative research of two democratic Southeast Asian countries dealing with urgent threats to media freedom and democracy: Indonesia and the Philippines. Our research identifies the main disinformation work models in Southeast Asia, most notably through the use of buzzers (Indonesia) and trolls (the Philippines). Our research examines the increasingly gray area between trolls, buzzers and disinformation, and their increasing relationship to political elites. By explaining recent practices of political disinformation campaigns and journalist harassment, we aim to deepen understanding as to how these campaigns are organized in order to prevent them in the future. This article ultimately calls for a critical collaboration with diverse stakeholders in countering 'fake news' by examining four dominant disinformation work models.

Combatir la violencia contra las mujeres políticas:

Introduction. Violence against women in politics (VAWP) is a specific form of gender-based violence that is receiving growing attention from research, because it threatens the progress made in women’s political representation. However, there are few works on how to design legislation against VAWP. Objectives. This article contributes to filling this gap by analysing how the Bolivian legislation influenced norms of VAWP drafted and passed by other countries and international organisations in Latin America, the country where more efforts of this kind have taken place – the 243/2012 Bolivian Law on Political Violence and Harassment against Women was the first law on VAWP in the world –. Methodology. The research draws on qualitative content analysis of the legislation and semi-structured interviews with Bolivian women’s activists, officials and MPs. Results, conclusions and discussion. I argue that four specific features of the Bolivian legislation have had a major influence on other norms on VAWP: (i) a wide and detailed definition of VAWP; (ii) the attribution to the electoral organ of competences to prevent VAWP; (iii) the establishment of political parties’ responsibilities; (iv) the (incomplete) adoption of an intersectional perspective.

Політичне цькування освітян у 1920–1930-х роках як частина політичного репресування

The current situation and development of society increasingly tells us about certain trends of political harassment of public and political figures, as part of the process of repression, including in the field of education, compared to the tragic pages of our past. And so this topic is quite relevant in modern scientific discourse. The research methodology is based on the principles of objectivity, systematics, historicism, dialectics and interdisciplinarity. Namely, the study is based on historical and historical-pedagogical methods. The study provides examples of political harassment of representatives of the Soviet education system in the 1920s and 1930s, including through the media, both socio-political and professional educational significance. These data clearly reveal the attempts of the Soviet government to use the consciousness of citizens in the struggle against the «enemies of the people» and the supremacy of the Bolsheviks over the rights of every person to maintain their power. In addition to the disclosure of the topic is the involvement of documentary sources that demonstrate the political harassment of educators in speeches at various meetings and rallies. These examples of political harassment of educators provide an opportunity to study more deeply the mechanisms of political repression of the Ukrainian intelligentsia as a whole and see what methods of psychological pressure, manipulation and change of consciousness, especially youth and children, are inherent in Soviet power. But to analyze their future manifestations in the future and to develop a methodology for combating these negative phenomena in a democratic society, which requires further efforts of scientists.

Dr. Harassment Matters: Perception of Students on hazardity of Political, Religious, Economic, Sexual and Social Harassment in the Academia

Abstract
 This study investigated the perception students have on the relative hazardity of political, religious, economic, sexual and social harassment on students. Four hundred students were drawn as research respondents through convenience and stratified sampling techniques. Using Likert type scale, respondents were requested to indicate the level of hazard of each political, religious, economic, sexual and social harassment (PRESS) factor using 5 = very hazardous; 4 = hazardous; 3 = neutral; 2 = not hazardous; 1 = less hazardous. Digital interview was used to obtain data from the respondents. Frequency counts, percentage, relative importance index and chi square were used to analyse the data. Results indicated that the PRESS factors were perceived as hazardous by students; however, contrary to popular belief that sexual harassment was most hazardous, the results indicated that religious harassment was the most hazardous; sexual harassment was second; economic harassment was third; political harassment was fourth; and social harassment was fifth. Based on the findings, it was recommended that harassment factors should be addressed according to their magnitude; and that addressing harassment behaviour should be holistic and comprehensive. Furthermore, education of stakeholders should take the issue of harassment serious by being proactive.
 Keywords: Economic harassment, political harassment, religious harassment, sexual harassment, and social harassment.

Violencia contra las mujeres en política. El caso de la Asamblea Constituyente de la Ciudad de México

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>La implementación de las cuotas de género y la paridad han posibilitado la mayor representación de las mujeres. Sin embargo, han derivado en un incremento o visibilización de la violencia contra ellas. Se ha nombrado el fenómeno </span><span>violencia política, violencia política contra las mujeres, violencia política por razones de género </span><span>y </span><span>acoso político</span><span>. La falta de consenso en el nombre y su conceptualización genera lagunas legislativas e inconsistencias en los mecanismos de prevención, atención y sanción. Este estudio abona al debate conceptual al nombrarlo violencia de género contra las mujeres en política (VGCMP). Además, examina las experiencias de las mujeres de la Asamblea Constituyente de la Ciudad de México (ACCDMX). Las mujeres experimentan numerosas expresiones de VGCMP que frecuentemente pasan inadvertidas. No sólo los compañeros/as son los autores del acoso, discriminación y violencia, sino que también participan el electorado, el personal de seguri</span>dad y los empleados de la ACCDMX. Las mujeres despliegan diversas estrategias de resistencia individuales y colectivas. Se discuten las implicaciones sobre el marco normativo y las acciones de prevención y sanción de la VGCMP.</p></div></div></div></div>

Criminalizing Violence against Women in Politics: Innovation, Diffusion, and Transformation

AbstractViolence against women politicians is increasingly recognized as an issue that undermines women's presence in politics. Latin America has been at the vanguard of this global discussion. In 2012, Bolivia became the only country in the world to criminalize “political violence and harassment against women.” Several other countries have similar legislation in the works. What explains the emergence of these bill proposals? This article argues that the creation of these bills is the result of three processes: activism at the local level used international norms to propose an innovative solution to a problem; women politicians and “femocrats” worked within the state apparatus to overcome resistance; and international actors worked to foster connections among activists and politicians across the region. In this process, international norms have been transformed, with important implications for women's political representation.

Acoso político: experiencias de vicealcaldesas en su participación política en el período del 2010-2020

Las expresiones de acoso político quedan manifestadas en las entrevistas realizadas a las vicealcaldesas. El acoso político tiene la finalidad de obstruir la participación política de las mujeres en Costa Rica. La participación política de las mujeres ha estado sujeta por una constante lucha por el derecho a acceder al ámbito público, sin embargo, la lucha continúa en garantizar espacios libres de discriminación hacia ellas, con el fin de garantizar su la plena participación y lograr una igualdad real.

¿Todos por igual? Un análisis de las repercusiones del acoso político en el ejercicio de funciones de regidoras en municipios locales en Puno y Lima (2015–2018), Perú

<p>Las mujeres enfrentan serias dificultades para ingresar en la arena política. En los últimos años se ha evidenciado al acoso político como uno de los cuatro principales obstáculos para la participación de mujeres en la política peruana. El artículo presenta los resultados de investigación de las limitantes en el desarrollo de actividades y funciones de 17 mujeres regidoras en municipalidades distritales y provinciales en Lima y Puno entre 2015 y 2018, en el Perú. Se pretende visibilizar las situaciones de violencia, desacreditación, las problemáticas por las que atraviesan las autoridades y cómo estas pueden repercutir en sus funciones y sus expectativas de participación política.</p>

Політичне цькування та „боротьба з ворогами народу” в системі освіти УРСР 1920–1930-х рр.

The current state and development of society is increasingly telling us about certain trends in the spread of political persecution and harassment, especially by public and political figures, including in the education system. And yes, the proposed research topic is equally important and relevant today. The study covers not only publications of socio-political or specialized educational or children's media, but also specific historical examples of political persecution and harassment of representatives of the education system of the 1920–1930s, which gives a deeper understanding and possibility of studying the mechanisms and manifestations of this negative phenomenon in during the so-called „fight against the enemies of the people”. The methodology of the study is based on the principles of objectivity, systematically, historicism, dialectics and interdisciplinary. And the research is based on historical and historical-pedagogical methods. Examples of political persecution and harassment of education at various levels in media of social and political importance, such as „Izvestia”, „Communist”, „Proletarian Truth”, or specialized and specialized educational publications, such as „The Path of Education”, „The Path note”, „Kyiv Pioneer”, „People's Teacher” vividly reveal the essence of the Bolshevik regime and present the efforts of the Soviet authorities to use the consciousness of citizens in the fight against the so-called „enemies of the people”, supremacy over the public rights of their own citizens. Additions to the publications are various historical sources that demonstrate the political persecution of the educators (Skrypnyk M., Krupsky O., Efremov S., Durdukivsky V. and others) in the speeches of party Soviet figures at various meetings and rallies. In addition, we can see how the Soviet authorities use political propaganda and agitation against their own citizens to retain power. This makes it possible not only to see what methods of psychological pressure, manipulations and changes of consciousness, especially of young people and children, are inherent in the Soviet power, but also to analyze their present manifestations to develop a methodology for combating these negative phenomena in a democratic society, which needs further efforts of scientists.

Political reprisals with regard to kazakstanian intelligency in 20-50-х XX century

In the history of the tragic events marked by the history of the country, including the history of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, mass political repression of the 1920-1950s of the XX century have a special place. The repressive soviet state policy that began in the 1920s and by the 1930s of XX century was a fairly well functioning and smoothly operating mechanism. Its extremely intensive work was marked when the cult of the personality of Stalin as «the leader of all nations» in the country was finally established. The Soviet state became essentially a testing ground for conducting various socio-economic and political experiments «in the Stalinist way». The contradiction between the proclaimedofficial power «socialism in the country» and regional reality has reached its critical point. The cause ofthe conflict between the government and the Kazakh intellectuals, as well as the exact number of victimsin that period have not been fully studied to this day. The object of research are public situation in Kazakhstan,the sources of controversy between the Soviet government and Kazakhstani intellectuals, thecauses of mass sexual repression and the effects of such phenomena. Representatives of the Kazakh intellectuals in their writings consider the ideas and political origins of national law, including critical issues related to the directive methods of the USSR regime. The specialattention was given to political persecution by the state, which in turn caused political harassment fromthe government. The comparative analysis of the documentary bases of this period made it possible to clarify thegeneral trends and patterns of Kazakh society development in the 1930s, to analyze the logic of the actionsof the repressive mechanism.Key words: political regime, repression, conflict, the Kazakh intellectuals, ideological control, repressivepolicy.

Інтелектуальна міграція з України: історико-економічний нарис

The article presents a retrospective analysis of the Ukrainian population intellectual migration, its factors and motives. The author singled out the displacement of Ukrainian intellectuals, who had the most significant influence on the Ukraine’s development. In different periods, such migrations were caused by the colonial position of Ukraine as a part of different empires. This position caused the outflow of the intellectuals to the metropolises, because they provided more opportunities. Ukrainian intellectuals made trips to Muscovy to translate, to teach students and to teach children languages, beginning in the second half of the 16th century. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ukrainians – mostly alumni and teachers of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy – became leaders of European culture and education in Muscovy. One of the important factors of intellectual migration was the political harassment of Ukrainians. The most crucial – in the meaning of intellectual losses – were following events: the emigration of Ivan Mazepa and his followers in the beginning of the 18th century; the publication of the Emsky decree in 1876; "The Philosophy Steamer" in 1921–22; and the establishment of Bolshevik-Soviet authority on the Ukrainian lands. The last one was analysed with the use of the conventional approach to the determination of the waves of massive migration of Ukrainian population. It was found that the largest outflow of intellectuals occurred within the second (interwar) and the third (after World War II) waves. This outflow became one of the factors that destabilized Ukraine's economic development and reduced this country’s institutional capacity. The author concludes that the outflow of intellectuals to the metropolises likewise the political emigration inevitably led to the exclusion of well-educated and active individuals from ethnic Ukrainian lands. However, emigration made it possible for intellectuals to survive, to reproduce intellectually and to educate the later generations, especially in the Soviet period. In conclusion, the author warned that the proposed results should not be seen as a call to restrict the mobility of intellectuals, as this could dam-age the scientific system as a whole. Instead, the author proposed to promote academic mobility as a tool to enhance the professional level of Ukrainian scientists and to create a competitive scientific environment in Ukraine.

Formation of Historical Ukrainian Studies at the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University during the 1918 and early 1930's

The article shows that the period from 1918 to the beginning of the 1930's was characterized by considerable efforts in the cause of the birth and advancement of historical Ukrainian studies at the Katerynoslav University, and later in the Katerynoslav (Dnipropetrovsk) Institute of Public Education (DIPE), as the first institutional forms of the Oles Нonchar Dnipro National University. It was emphasized that the central figure of that period was Academician D. I. Yavornytsky, who laid the foundations for a Ukrainian school of science, and rallied around him a number of professors, like-minded professors, post-graduate students and students. The activity of the People's Academician in the field of historical Ukrainian studies was closely linked with other areas of Ukrainian studies and contributed to the development of Ukrainian historical memory, consciousness and culture. The rise of authoritarianism, and then totalitarianism in the policies of the ruling Soviet-communist regime, led to the curtailment of Ukrainization, the intensification of ideological and political harassment and repressions against a number of professors, young scholars, postgraduates and students. Disclosed as having lost the opportunity to conduct scientific and pedagogical work at the DIPE, D. I. Yavornytsky did not stop creative contacts with staff and graduate students of the institution, using up to the early 1930's various forms of cooperation within the framework of the Dnipropetrovsk Research Department of Ukrainian Studies at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS), the Dnipropetrovsk regional historical-archaeological museum, the Dnipropetrovsk Scientific Society under the UAS and the DniproGES archaeological expedition. It was emphasized that after 1933 the further progress of the Dnipropetrovsk scientific school of Ukrainian studies and its important direction - historical Ukrainian studies - was interrupted under the conditions of the Stalinist totalitarian regime.

Open Records, Shuttered Labs: Ending Political Harassment of Public University Researchers

This Article confronts a dangerous contemporary trend: the political harassment of public university professors by activists on the right and left, through the mechanism of open records requests. It is timed to a moment when universities and state legislatures are grappling with the consequences of escalating public-records intrusion into scholars’ work that threatens enterprises as diverse as climate change research and biomedical experiments. Every U.S. state has an open records law — a statute that permits any person, for any reason, to access the records of public agencies. Unknown to many, these state laws typically sweep public universities within their definition of “agencies,” making professors’ draft manuscripts, e-mails, and even exam questions potentially fair game for records requesters. In the past decade, scholars in states with broad open records laws have increasingly received harassing records requests from requesters politically or economically threatened by the intellectual work they seek to reveal. Such requests undermine the peer review process and the communications through which scholars explore and contest ideas, impairing the core intellectual functions of the university. Equally worrisome, harassing record requests chill research on critical contemporary issues — a knowledge-generation role of universities that is essential to a democracy, which depends on an informed citizenry. This Article argues that professors should never have been subject to public records laws in the first instance, both because they are not engaged in public governance, and because open records laws are fundamentally incompatible with academic freedom. It further argues that the best way to stanch the present records request intrusion into scholars’ work is to create a broad scholar-records exemption from existing state laws. While some commentators have described the problem of public records harassment of university faculty, none have presented an in-depth theoretical justification for reform, nor an examination of the full range of harms stemming from public demands for scholar records. This is also the first article to propose a specific legislative fix, informed by real-world legal battles over scholar records disclosure. By presenting the most comprehensive and prescriptive issue treatment yet, this Article aims to help open records reform cross the political finish line.

Veritable Flak Mill

Flak may be concisely defined as political harassment and is detrimental to community for its strained ethical posture, cynicism, and corrosive impact on social and political bonds of trust. Following conceptualization of flak that differentiates it from scandal and activism, this investigation focuses on Project Veritas as its case study. Veritas is a right-wing flak mill that, using media, has set out to professionally damage people and organizations across almost a decade. The investigation telescopes in on two Veritas stunts that provoked reviews by the justice systems of California and Texas. In these cases, the California Attorney General and Texas special prosecutors delivered astringent criticisms of Veritas’ covertly-recorded “sting” videos, while largely or wholly exonerating their flak targets (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now [ACORN], Battleground Texas). Along with conceptualizing and critiquing flak, the investigation concludes with a call for news that extends beyond fact-checking and the limited, complacent techniques of objectivity in favor of more ambitious pursuit of truth.

From „neither this nor that” to „a stereoscopic and stereophonic attitude to the world”: writers’ attitude to bilingualism

The article examines the problem of bilingualism from a diachronic perspective in the context of the contribution of current cultural theories (gender, postcolonial) to the perception of multilingualism in contemporary culture. A distinct issue in this research is compulsory bilingualism caused by the Holocaust and involuntary resettlement processes resulting from political harassment. The article also emphasizes the import of cultural anthropology, cognitive sciences and the sociology of translation into the redefi nition of the very notion of bilingualism and the infl uence of this phenomenon on such remote from literature spheres as therapy. Refl ection on bilingualism is largely dependent on the intellectual capacity of the bilingual authors conducting self-analysis. The cases of Eva Hoffman and Anna Wierzbicka provide more than adequate evidence which signifi cantly complements the testimony of philosophers, such as trilingual George Steiner, and bilingual writers, such as Conrad, Nabokov or Brodsky. Finally, it should be added that globalization favors bilingualism among authors but often also provides the rationale for choosing a less popular language as a means of expression.

The High Levels of Professionalism of the Philippine National Police Officers in Southern Mindanao, Philippines

Organizational efforts in the PNP are focused on reforms and improvement,emphasizing specialization, professionalism, commitment and community serviceorientation.Extensive trainings are given for the PNP to gain skills and imbuewith them the values of commitment and dedication to service. The study aimedto analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the PNP andits impact on the PNP mission statement. The study used descriptive-normativesurvey using questionnaire and documentary analysis to gather data from thePolice Commissioned Officers (PCO) and Police Non-Commissioned Officers.Both indicated well organized, strong, dedicated and committed professionalPNP personnel, while there were still graft and corruption, inadequate facilities,coordinative mechanism among law enforcement agencies, and internalization ofthe mission statement, and political interventions. The following were threats of thePNP: political interventions, harassment charges, narcotics abuse and trafficking, andmisleading media. Results showed that there are still opportunities to improve thelegal system and opportunities to change police career due to good experience andexposure. The study concluded that the SWOT model has a very high impact ofthe mission statements of the PNP particularly on community safety, communitypartnership, environment, gender development, material and financial management,human resource development and job satisfaction.Keywords: Multidisciplinary Research, High levels of professionalism of the PNP,Descriptive-normative survey research, Southern Mindanao, Philippines

Gender-Based Political Harassment and Violence: Effects on the Political Work and Public Roles of Women

This article shows the significance of the problems of political harassment and violence against women in positions of political responsibility in Bolivia. This phenomenon is seen in both rural and urban areas and transcends borders. It has been shown that these attacks constitute a violation of women's civil and political rights and a threat to the physical and mental health of women leaders in Bolivia. Furthermore, there is no punishment of guilty parties, reparation, or moral or material compensation for the women who are affected. In Bolivia, gender-based harassment and violence is a fundamental barrier to women's political participation. However, this phenomenon is still not addressed by government programs and is not part of the public discourse and debate. In spite of the measures taken to promote women's political participation, several different administrations have been unable to guarantee women the capacity to occupy positions of responsibility without being threatened or harassed. The results of our research led to a bill addressing this problem. Subsequently, Ecuador took this bill as an example and replicated it in a legislative initiative. These results show the importance of research by organizations that represent women in preventing unjust situations and health problems.