Who Gets Targeted and How? Intersectional Dimensions of Election Violence Against Local Candidates in Colombia

Violence against politicians is increasing across democracies, yet most research on gendered political violence focuses on established democracies where physical violence is rare. This paper explores intersectional dynamics of electoral violence against local political candidates in Colombia, a context where political competition remains violent. Based on a post-election survey of about 10,000 local candidates from the 2023 elections, we analyse how gender and ethnicity—Afro-Colombians and Indigenous—shape exposure to violence, its forms, and the identities of perpetrators. Our findings reveal that women face higher risks of sexual violence but lower risks of physical and psychological violence. Women are more likely than men to be targeted by actors within their personal networks, while ethnic minority candidates—men and women alike—are more frequently attacked by armed groups. Importantly, the intersection of gender and ethnicity does not simply add disadvantages. Instead, minority status equalizes risks across genders. In fact, the most pronounced gender differences in violence exposure are found among white candidates. These findings indicate that intersectional vulnerabilities do not merely sum across gender and ethnicity, but interact to produce unique patterns of electoral violence.