There's very little research that voters are influenced by the gender of the candidate, not in my research in the U.K. We did find one example in the 2010 election showing that women who were more feminist were more likely to vote for women. There were similar findings in the United States in 1992, which famously became the year of the woman election with the Clarence Thomas hearings, where women, particularly feminist women, voted for women candidates.
Mostly there is no effect. There isn't a punishment effect, but neither is there a positive effect. Most voters will vote according to the party rather than the sex of the candidate.