manner that allows for fair competition and delivers democratic leaders. APRM looks at the adequacy of institutional and regulatory frameworks to protect the exercise of voting rights. In Lesotho for example, the APRM identified as a good practice electoral system reforms that allowed broader inclusiveness and representation of the legislature which had led to relative peace.225 However APRM country review reports do not cover this issue from a gender perspective in depth. Democratic rights come with the responsibility to vote for leaders, but for many countries, elections evoke fear of chaos and conflict, and for women, violence in the public and private spheres. Violent conflict in Africa has a positive relationship with elections. By 2010, it was estimated that if one person killed due to electoral violence constitutes electoral violence, between 19 percent to 25 percent of countries that held elections in sub-Saharan Africa had experienced violence.226 A recent 30 country study in Africa finds a positive association between gender equality and lower electoral violence and surmises that this can reduce the probability of electoral violence in Africa by around 4.2 percent.227 Women peacebuilders have identified elections as a lightning rod and galvanised action around this process to address the gender concerns that are associated with electoral violence. African women’s civil society has innovated ways to intergrade peacebuilding in the electoral process. The Women’s Situation Room (WSR) has emerged as a major tool in preventing, responding to and mitigating electoral related violence as a peace building tool. The WSR was created by Councillor Yvette Chesson to monitor elections and prevent the eruption of violence during highly charged electoral periods in Liberia. This practice was hailed by the 2012 Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) of the AU as a best practice228 and has been replicated in countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Senegal. 225 Africa Peer Review Mechanism ‘Kingdom of Lesotho’ 2012 Country Review Report No 12 Bekoe, D ‘Trends in Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. (2010) USIP Peace brief (13) 227 Ouedraogo R, Ouedraogo I, ‘Gender Equality and Electoral Violence in Africa: Unlocking the Peacemaking Potential of Women’ IMF, July 2019 228 Limo I ‘The Women’s Situation Room in Africa: An Initiative for Peaceful and Inclusive Elections’16 FEB 2017. Available at https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/womens-situation-room-africa/ 226 78