Managing Election- Relation Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana within the larger framework of election conflict. This is because election conflicts provide antecedents to election-related violence. According to the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), election-related violence can be defined as, …[a]cts or threats of coercion, intimidation, or physical harm perpetrated to affect an electoral process or that arise in the context of electoral competition. When perpetrated to affect an electoral process, violence may be employed to influence the process of elections—such as efforts to delay, disrupt, or derail a poll—and to influence the outcomes: the determining of winners in competitive races for political office or to secure approval or disapproval of referendum questions(United Nations Development Programme, 2009) These definitions capture physical, social-psychological and economic violence that may be utilized at any stage of the electoral process by one or more groups against others. It also provides the space to examine women's experiences in relation to election-related violence within the different stages of the electoral 131 cycle. Both definitions indicate a certain level of undertaking a conscious action – threatening or actually perpetrating an act of violence against another. However, none of the definitions is broad enough to accommodate other forms of violence that may not fall within the spectrum of conscious acts but the existence of which may yet intimidate a person intending to contest for public office. For instance, the sociologically 131 The electoral cycle can be broken down into three phases – the pre-electoral stage, the electoral period and the post-electoral phase. Planning, training, information dissemination and registration occur in the pre­electoral period. Nomination of candidates, campaigning, voting and the declaration of the voting results occur in the electoral phase while the post-electoral phase is usually used for review, reform and strategizing for future elections. This is taken from“Electoral Cycle” on ACE, The Electoral Knowledge Network available on http://aceproject.org/ero-en/topics/electoral-management/electoral%20cycle.JPG/view, accessed on 30 May 2012. 283