(2017) 1 African Human Rights Yearbook 77 the FPTP system is that women candidates will be competing with men or other women directly, and voters will be focussing on the traits of an individual candidate. Because of patriarchy and stereotypes against women, voters often prefer male candidates above women candidates. This is different to the proportional representation electoral system, in which voters focus on the political party and its policies and programmes rather than on individual candidates. With proportional representation, more women are elected into office than in majoritarian systems.87 As evidence, a review of 53 national legislatures in 1999 found that National Assemblies elected by proportional representation were composed, on average, by nearly 20 per cent women, compared to only about 11 per cent in majoritarian systems.88 The triumph of female candidates in elections is also affected by the strenuous process used to select candidates. Matland argues that, ‘for women to get elected to parliament they need to pass three crucial barriers; first, they need to select themselves to stand for elections; second, they need to get selected as candidate by the party, and thirdly, they need to get selected by voters’.89 At each stage, women face peculiar challenges that they must overcome before moving on to the next stage. At the primary election stage, candidates are selected by internal party structures through a rigorous and often flawed process. In Zimbabwe, party primary elections ahead of the 2013 were marred with irregularities, and reports of women being intimidated by men, and some male candidates absconding with ballot boxes.90 The influential role of ‘male’ gatekeepers who block women’s entry into politics remains one of the most serious impediments to women’s inclusion in primary election processes. ‘Men dominate the political arena; men formulate the rules of the political game; and men define the standards for evaluation. This male-dominated model results in either women shunning politics altogether or rejecting male-style politics’.91 Male leaders in political parties often favour their male friends, and a few female colleagues. In some cases, women candidates succeed through forging strong alliances with male leaders, even if this may mean providing male leaders with sexual favours.92 This belief has seen many women, especially married women, shunning contesting for political party positions. Violence and intimidation further limit women’s participation in public life. A baseline study conducted by Gender Links revealed 87 88 89 90 91 92 A M Goetz No shortcuts to power (2003). Goetz (n 87 above) 51. Matland (n 86 above) 66. Dziva et al (n 14 above). Shvedova (n 28 above) 21. Dziva et al (n 14 above).