Chapter 9 political 135 environment. It is however important to recognize that none of the above-mentioned factors can individually provide cogent explanations for women's experience(s) with election­related violence because the seemingly different contexts within which violence against women occur are related. Following from the above, little attention has been paid to election-related violence against women. Such violence is often explained away as a consequence of women's behaviour, which stems from their nature. 136 In addition, the experiences of women are not properly disaggregated because there is an implicit assumption that all women face the same challenges. Yet, although women are a homogenous group for the purposes of gender classification, their varied positions and status in society provides them with different experiences. As such, while the homogenous classification is useful in certain contexts, it is less useful in other situations. For instance, although women have been known to be victims of election-related violence, they have also been vectors for it. The task of examining women's experiences with election-related violence is therefore best undertaken using a clustered approach that aggregates the experiences of women in their various circumstances within the society. It also allows an investigation into the type of violence experienced by women as voters and as contestants. Such an approach provides the different contexts within which election 135 Although most women are unwilling to participate in competitive elections for the above reasons, a few women have also gained notoriety for being virulent. Elizabeth Sackey, Member of Parliament for Okaikoi North Constituency suggested that due to the polluted electoral environment, women who were aggressive and could engage in the unhealthy politics of insults and lies were preferred to those who were calm and preferred to play within the rules. 136 A constant feature that emerged in the focus group discussions in the Western, Central and Volta regions was that women were too emotional and unable to accept constructive criticism. Some participants in the study working directly with women in politics and areas of decision making are of the opinion that women tend to be micro-managers and tend to trust less, which slows everything down. There were also assertions that women were'too known' and poked their noses into the affairs of others. 286