In the few reported incidents of physical violence on election day, the perpetrators were overwhelmingly reported by observers to be men. In 80% of reported incidents of physical violence, perpetrators were male, while female perpetrators were reported in only 20%.
While Election Day in Nicaragua was peaceful overall, there were 211 confirmed critical incidents reported by observers. Of these incidents, only 20% in total were reported to be violent, as seen in this chart. These incidents, in turn, were nearly all incidents of intimidation, threats or bullying, with only 2% of all reported incidents characterized by physical violence.
Of the incidents of violence that were reported by observers, the perpetrators were most likely to be men, regardless of the type of violence observed.
Of the reported incidents of violence, men were more likely to be targeted by harassment and violence than women; while women were more likely than men to be targeted by impersonation. In all categories, mixed-gender groups were the most frequently targeted.
Of the incidents that were reported by observers, 38% targeted voters, while 31% were against election officials, 23% were against party agents, and 8% were against observers.
CEON-U trained observers to report on hate speech, violence and intimidation against women candidates and their supporters. Of the reports received, only 8% of observers reported any acts of this gender-based violence.
98% of CEON-U’s observers reported that they had not witnessed or heard of any attacks against election officials, including acts of intimidation.
85% of observers reported that they did not witness or hear of attacks on women candidates or their supporters; of those that did witness or hear of such attacks, most reports came from credible third parties.
Of the reported incidents of violence against women voters entering or exiting the polling stations that were received, 63% were acts of harassment; the next most frequent type of violence observed was physical violence (25%).
Of the incidents of violence against women that were observed at polling stations, 50% of the perpetrators were recorded as being other than polling officials or members of security forces.
