Equality in Politics

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Equality in Politics:

A Survey o Women and Men

in Parliaments

Reports and Documents n 54

Inter-Parliamentary Union


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ii

Copyright Inter-Parliamentary Union 2008

ISBN 978-92-9142-379-8 (IPU)

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Written and Compiledby Julie Ballington


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Foreword

Astrong and vibrant democracy is possible only when parliament is fully inclusive of the population itrepresents. Parliaments cannot consider themselves inclusive, however, until they can boast the full

participation of women. Ever since the first United Nations World Conference on Women was heldin Mexico City in 1975, the international community has paid great attention to womens representationin, and impact on, political decision-making structures. Despite this international focus, however, womensaccess to parliament has been frustratingly slow and very often disappointing. In 1975, women held 10.9percent of all parliamentary seats worldwide. After more than 30 years of pledges, prescriptions and persua-sion, women occupy less than 18 percent of all parliamentary seats in 2008.

For the past decade, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has based its work on a clear principle: thatthere is a fundamental link between democracy and a genuine partnership between men and women in themanagement of public affairs. One of our core aims is to improve womens access to, and participation in,parliament and to build real political partnerships between men and women. Our efforts in this regard are

underpinned by the collection and analysis of data on the subject. Tis report is our most recent contribu-tion to the ongoing discussion about how to achieve full partnership between men and women in parlia-ment. Te report collates the views and experiences of parliamentarians drawn from all regions of the worldgathered through survey research.

While it is important to increase the number of women in parliaments around the world, it is also nec-essary for women, once in parliament, to use their positions of influence to make a difference in decision-making processes. Women parliamentarians are changing politics and redefining political priorities to in-clude womens views and concerns. Te report highlights some of the ways in which women are also workingto mainstream a gender perspective in parliamentary work, such as through parliamentary committees and

womens parliamentary caucuses.

But these tasks are not for women alone. Forty percent of the survey respondents were male, providinga unique perspective of both men and women on the question of gender equality in politics. rue genderequality can only result from including the views and experiences of both men and women. Te report showsthat while some men in parliament raise issues of concern to women in their work, much more must be doneto forge constructive partnerships between men and women.

In many ways, this study attests to the unfortunate fact that gender equality in parliaments remains anideal, not a reality. Women parliamentarians continue to face difficulties in their work, perhaps none greaterthan operating in political structures and political parties dominated by men. Te inclusion of women inpolitical decision making is not just about womens right to equality and participation in the conduct ofpublic affairs; it is also about using womens resources and potential to determine political and development

priorities that benefit societies and the global community. In other words, it is not just a matter of right butgetting it right.

We sincerely thank the parliamentarians who gave their time to take part is this surveyyour views haveshaped the findings in this report. We hope that you find this study both informative and provocative, andthat it provides inspiration for efforts to strengthen gender equality in parliaments.

Anders B. Johnsson

Secretary GeneralInter-Parliamentary Union


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Equality in Politics: Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

his report was compiled and written by Julie Ballington who is a researcher in the Gender Part-nership Programme at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Overall project guidance and valu-able editorial suggestions on this report were provided by Ms. Kareen Jabre, the Gender Partner-

ship Programme Manager. Ms. Valeria Sistek provided invaluable coordination and administrative supportthroughout.

We thank the hundreds of parliamentarians who kindly gave of their time to complete the survey andwithout whom this report would not have been possible. Tey described the values they represent, the poli-cies they support and the work they are doing, and their contributions are graciously acknowledged. Specialthanks are also due to the parliamentary staff and officials around the world who assisted with the comple-

tion of the survey responses.

Tose parliamentarians who took part in the in-depth interviews are acknowledged for their invaluableinsights, particularly those which resulted in country case studies in this report: Ms. Sotiroula Charalambous(Cyprus), Ms. Margaret Mensah-Williams (Namibia), Ms. Beth Mugo (Kenya), Ms. Victoire Ndikumana(Burundi), Mrs. Maria Rauch-Kallat (Austria), Ms Saumura ioulong (Cambodia) and Baroness Uddin(United Kingdom). In addition, case studies and illustrative examples were provided by Dr. Drude Dahl-erup, Ms. Pregs Govender, Ms. Elizabeth Powley, Dr. Richard Matland and Dr. Sonia Palmieri, and by the

Womens Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).

Te findings of the report were checked with several parliamentarians, including members of the IPUCoordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians. Te input of several parliamentarians is appreci-ated, including Mr. John Austin (United Kingdom), Ms. Kay Hull (Australia), Ms. Katri Komi (Finland),Ms. Margaret Mensah-Williams (Namibia) and Ms. Saumura ioulong (Cambodia). A group of reviewersprovided extremely useful comments and suggestions. Detailed comments and editorial suggestions wereprovided by Ms. Kareen Jabre, Dr. Sonia Palmieri and Ms. Elizabeth Powley. We also thank Dr. HannahBritton, Dr. Drude Dahlerup, Dr. John Mathiason and Dr. Richard Matland for their insightful feedbackand suggestions.

Te questionnaire used in this survey was developed by the staff of the IPU Secretariat and benefitedenormously from the input of several people. We thank the members of the IPU Co-ordinating Committeeof Women Parliamentarians for their feedback, most notably Ms. Komi Katri (Finland), Ms. Gisele Gautier(France) and Ms. Monica Xavier (Uruguay). Several researchers and practitioners provided feedback includ-

ing Dr. Drude Dahlerup, Dr. Pippa Norris, Dr. Richard Matland, Dr. Marian Sawer, Dr. Manon remblayand Dr. Sonia Palmieri.

Special thanks are also due to the people who worked behind the scenes. Many colleagues at the IPUoffered their views and provided support during the data collection and report writing. Ms. Susan Fewingsprovided outstanding data entry support. Mr. Nic Cottrell at ransmachina provided technical support, anddesigned and maintained the database of results. Several others were involved in providing editorial, transla-tion and graphic design support, whose efforts are acknowledged and highly appreciated.


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Table o Contents

Executive Summary 1

Chapter 1

Introduction 5

A Parnerhip for Democracy 5Redefining he Poliical Agenda 6

Abou hi Repor 6Ouline of he Repor 7Parliamenary Profiling: Abou he Reponden 8Endnoe 11

Chapter 2

The Road to Parliament: Less Travelled by Women 13

Women Acce o Parliamen 13Enering he Realm of Parliamen 15Faciliaing Women Acce o Parliamen 19

Knowing he Rule: raining and Campaigning 27Summary 27Endnoe 28

Chapter 3

Women and Men in Parliament: Competing Concerns or Complementary Agendas? 29

A Queion of Inere 29A Maer of Prioriie 30A Queion of Ideniy: Who Repreen Whom? 34In a Differen Syle 38

A Complemenary Agenda 39Summary 40Endnoe 41

Chapter 4

Policy Development:Women Making their Presence Felt 43

Broadening he Poliical Agenda 43Te Level of Aciviy in Differen Policy Area 44

Working in Parnerhip 47Conrain on Acing for Women 49

Summary 58Endnoe 59

Table o Contents

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Chapter 5

Institutional Change: Gender-sensitive Parliaments 61

Parliamentary Structures 61

Parliamenary Commiee 62Parliamenary Commiee on Gender Equaliy and he Sau of Women 65

Women Caucue 68Gender-sensitive Parliaments 71

Family-friendly Working Environmen 72Gendered Parliamenary More 74

Women in Parliamenary Leaderhip Poiion 75Summary 78Endnoe 79

Chapter 6

Conclusions: Defning a Future Agenda 81

Parliamenary Acion for Equaliy 82A Collecive Approach 83

Bibliography and Further Reading 85

Annex 1: Countries and Parliaments o Respondents and List o Interviewees 89

Annex 2: Research Design and Methodology 91

Annex 3: Survey Questionnaire 93


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List o illustrations

List o illustrations

Figures

Figure 11: Te Age of Parliamenarian 8Figure 12: Te Civil Sau of Parliamenarian 9Figure 13: Te Number of Dependen of Parliamenarian 9Figure 14: Educaional Aainmen Among Reponden 9Figure 15: Occupaion of Parliamenarian Prior o Elecion 10Figure 16: Number of Mandae Served in Parliamen 11Figure 21: World and Regional Average of Women in Parliamen, 19952008 15Figure 22: Channel of Enry ino Poliic 16Figure 31: Women Bring Differen View, Perpecive and alen o Poliic 31Figure 32: Women Parliamenarian have a Reponibiliy o Repreen he Inere

of Women 36Figure 33: Men can Sufficienly Repreen he Inere of Women in Poliic 36Figure 34: Male Parliamenarian Have a Reponibiliy o Repreen he Inere of Men 36

Figure 35: Parliamenary Language i Le Aggreive 39Figure 36: Level of Aciviy on Women Iue 40Figure 41: Qualiy of Repreenaion of Women in he Policy Organ of Poliical Parie 53Figure 42: Voing according o he Pary Line 54Figure 43: Te More Women in Parliamen, he Greaer heir Influence

on Poliical Prioriie and Policy 54Figure 51: Doe a Sufficien Number of Women Serve on your Parliamenary Commiee? 62Figure 52: Change in he Rule and Pracice of Parliamen brough abou by

he Preence of Women 71Figure 53: Balancing Family Life and Poliical Commimen 72Figure 54: Change o Siing ime in Parliamen 73

Figure 55: Inroducion of Childcare Faciliie 74Figure 56: Doe a Genlemen Club Dominae Parliamen? 74

Tables

able 21: Women in Parliamen, 19452008 14able 22: Moivaion for becoming a Parliamenary Candidae 16able 23: Influence of he Differen Facor ha Deer Men and Women from

Enering Poliic 18able 41: Level of Aciviy in Differen Policy Area? 45able 42: Te Impac of he Preence of Women on Legilaion 46able 43: Facor ha Affec he Adopion of Gender-relaed Legilaion 50able 51: Change Relaed o Women Preence in Parliamen 71

Boxes

Box 21: Obacle o Women Acceing Parliamen 20Box 31: Toe Who Live i, Feel i 30Box 32: More of he Same 31Box 33: Women and Men have Diverging Prioriie 32Box 34: Prioriy Difference beween Women and Men 33Box 35: A Differen Syle and Approach o Poliic 38Box 41: Policy Iniiaive for Gender Equaliy 47Box 42: Do he Number Maer? 55Box 43: Women Repreenaion in Parliamenary Commiee 58

Box 51: Women Concenraion in he Sof Commiee 64Box 52: Incremenal Iniuional Progre 73


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Case Studies

Cae Sudy: Women Candidae Ge Shor Changed 22Cae Sudy: Elecoral Syem, Poliical Parie, and Women Repreenaion 23Cae Sudy: Gender Quoa - A Fa rack o Enhancing Women Repreenaion

under he Righ Condiion 25Cae Sudy: Women Preence in Parliamen in he Unied Kingdom 35

Cae Sudy: Repreening Women in Po-Conflic Burundi 37Cae Sudy: Rwandan Women Seing he Agenda 50Cae Sudy: Making Women Preence fel in Parliamen in Kenya 52Cae Sudy: Do Number Maer? A Revied Criical Ma Teory 56Cae Sudy: Women Parliamenary Preence in Cambodia 57Cae Sudy: Mainreaming Gender in he Aurian Parliamen 63Cae Sudy: Gender Mainreaming and Commiee in Cypru 66Cae Sudy: Gender Mainreaming in Sweden 67Cae Sudy: Gender Reponive Budge 69Cae Sudy: Namibia Women Caucu 70Cae Sudy: Family-friendly Siing in Auralia 75Cae Sudy: Women Finding heir Way in Souh Africa 77


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1

Executive Summary

Parliamen i he place where a counry policy direcion i e A democraic parliamen reflec he viewand inere of he ociey from which i i drawn and allow hoe perpecive o hape he ociey

ocial, poliical and economic fuure When women are involved in all apec of poliical life, includinga member of parliamen, ocieie are more equiable and democracy i boh renghened and enhanced

Women have hiorically been idelined from he rucure of ae ha deermine poliical and legila-ive prioriie Alhough he number of women in parliamen around he world ha been increaing eadilyover he pa decade, in 2008 women ill occupy le han 18 percen of all parliamenary ea

For more han 30 year, he Iner-Parliamenary Union (IPU) ha conduced reearch on women in poli-ic Ti reearch i crucial a i form he bai of naional, regional and inernaional policie and raegieo promoe balanced paricipaion of men and women in poliic Te IPU la conduced a global urvey of

women parliamenarian in 19992000 Te reul of ha urvey, in which 180 women poliician refleced

on heir experience working in male-dominaed parliamen, are publihed in he 2000 IPU book Poliic:Women Inigh

Te reearch colleced for hi repor build on previou work in hi field Te urvey, conduced be-ween 2006 and 2008, wa deigned o collec inigh from boh men and women in parliamen ino whahape deciion making Te reearch aimed o elici concree example of how parliamenarian are workingo aain gender equaliy in poliic a he naional level Te IPU received repone from 272 parliamenar-ian in 110 counrie in every region of he world and held peronal inerview wih 20 parliamenarianUnlike previou IPU reearch, 40 percen of he reponden were men

Te urvey find ha differen facor affec he enry of women and men ino poliic (Chapter 2)Some facor provide more of a deerren han oher For men, perceived lack of uppor from he elecorae,for example, can dicourage heir enry ino poliic, while for women domeic reponibiliie are een ahe ingle mo imporan deerren In addiion, women face differen obacle o winning a ea in parlia-men Overall, reponden believe prejudice and culural percepion abou he role of women, ogeher

wih a lack of financial reource, o be among he mo influenial obacle More need o be done oaddre he obacle faced by women, and reponden idenified he adopion of elecoral quoa and heimplemenaion of eniizaion programme a imporan mechanim

I i clear from he repone o he urvey ha women and men have differen inere in and perpec-ive on life (Chapter 3) While no a homogenou group, women parliamenarian hare cerain generalinere and concern Men alo believe ha women poliical prioriie are differen from heir Indeed,more han 90 percen of all reponden agreed ha women bring differen view, alen and perpecive o

poliic Women parliamenarian end o emphaize ocial iue, uch a childcare, equal pay, parenal leaveand penion; phyical concern, including reproducive righ, phyical afey and gender-baed violence;and developmen, which include human developmen, he alleviaion of povery and delivery of ervice

While mo women parliamenarian feel ha hey have a reponibiliy o repreen women, omeemphaize ha women hould advocae no only on behalf of women, bu alo on behalf of he wider com-muniy Oher believe i i imporan o move beyond wha i perceived a a women agenda and o howha women are conribuing o a broad range of poliical dicuion

Democracy require ha he inere of differen group in ociey, including hoe of women, arerefleced in deciion-making procee Some men in parliamen raie iue of concern o women in heir

work Bu half he women reponden made i clear ha hey do no hink men can uffi cienly repreenhe inere of women in poliic

Executive Summary


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Te urvey find ha women parliamenarian are he mo arden upporer of women and have rede-fined legilaive prioriie o include women concern and perpecive (Chapter 4) In paricular, womenin parliamen in all region of he world are a he forefron of effor o comba gender-baed violence,

which i endemic in many ocieie Women have been inrumenal in enuring ha iue uch a parenalleave and childcare, penion, gender-equaliy law and elecoral reform ha enhance women acce oparliamen appear on he legilaive agenda

While mo women idenify hemelve a being acive on women iue, gender equaliy, communiymaer and family-relaed iue, many are alo becoming involved in area radiionally hough of amen domain, uch a fical policy and foreign affair Nonehele, he udy how ha, owing o a rangeof facor uch a he low number of women in parliamen which limi heir availabiliy o paricipae incommiee work, women have he lea influence on legilaion concerning finance, foreign affair, naionalecuriy and defence

Te udy alo how ha he policie of poliical parie are key deerminan of legilaive prioriie andagenda Te deciion-making bodie of poliical parie, uch a execuive commiee, are highly influen-ial; ye women have been, and coninue o be, under-repreened in hee group Le han 20 percen ofreponden believe ha women are very well repreened in he policy-making organ of heir poliical

parie While ome poliical parie have creaed women wing, more ofen han no hee bodie erveonly a a meeing place for women, raher han acive and effecive arm of he pary ha conribue o deci-ion making

Doe he number of women in parliamen maer? Te udy how ha number do maer becaue,a he very lea, he more women here are in parliamen, he eaier i i o addre women iue and ochange he gender dynamic in he chamber Eighy-ix percen of reponden agreed ha greaer numberof women in parliamen would increae women influence on poliical policie and prioriie

Since here are no yemaic raegie for gender mainreaming in parliamen, women progre inparliamen ha been pachy Indeed, more han half he reponden o he urvey believe ha gender equal-

iy i only occaionally or rarely mainreamed in parliamen (Chapter 5) Ju one-hird of repondenhink ha gender equaliy i regularly mainreamed

Reponden idenify four facor ha are mo influenial in creaing a more gender-eniive parlia-men Tee are: he uppor of he ruling pary in parliamen; he work of parliamenary commiee; he

work of women parliamenary caucue, which are cro-pary nework of women; and he rule hagovern he funcioning of parliamen However, by a more han wo-o-one margin over heir male coun-erpar, women believe ha parliamen i ill dominaed by a genleman club or old boy nework Onlyeigh percen of reponden believe here have been ubanial change in he rule and pracice of parlia-men becaue of he preence of women Small bu noiceable change have been noed in parliamenarylanguage and behaviour, which are een a having become le aggreive ince women began aking up

parliamenary ea

Te urvey alo find ha women remain concenraed in commiee ha deal wih ocial iue, edu-caion, healh and family affair While hee commiee are imporan, and overee a large hare of publicexpendiure, women are ofen aben from he debae on oher iue, uch a finance and foreign affairTi lack of women paricipaion in commiee ha deal wih he economy, finance and he budge meanha women have a leer ay in deermining financial prioriie and haping naional agenda Such concen-raion i alo rue a he execuive level Women held 1,022 minierial porfolio in January 2008, bu onlyix women held a defence porfolio

In many way, hi udy ae o he fac ha gender equaliy in parliamen remain an ideal, no a re-

aliy(Chapter 6) Women parliamenarian coninue o face difficulie in heir work, perhap none greaerhan in changing he poliical rucure ha were developed by, and remain dominaed by, men No all


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Executive Summary

poliical parie promoe gender equaliy or uphold heir manifeo pledge in pracice, and few women holdop deciion-making poiion in heir rank Ye hi urvey find ha he uppor of he ruling pary i oneof he mo imporan facor in inroducing and enacing gender-relaed legilaion

Reponden idenify everal rucural change ha could help o promoe women acce o and fullparicipaion in parliamen Tee include renghening exiing commiee on gender equaliy or caucueof women parliamenarian; changing parliamenary procee and faciliie o make hem more family-friendly (more han half he women reponden and more han 40 percen of he men have difficulybalancing heir family and poliical obligaion, and more han wo-hird of all reponden aid ha herehad been no real change in parliamenary iing ime ha could help hem balance heir reponibiliie);conducing more reearch and raining o make parliamen more eniive o he need of women and men;and providing parliamen wih more funding for uppor ervice and oureach work

In one-hird of all he parliamen in he world, le han 10 percen of he member are women Talevel of women repreenaion amoun o a defici in democracy I i clear ha i i women and no men

who have been inrumenal in placing uch iue a gender-baed violence, rafficking of women andchildren, equal pay, childcare and parenal leave on he poliical agenda Greaer paricipaion by women inparliamen would enure ha hee concern, and many oher ha migh be overlooked or no given prior-

iy by men, are addreed

Real change require poliical will and parnerhip Women and men mu acknowledge ha he equalparicipaion of women in parliamenary procee no only benefi ociey, bu i required in legiimizedemocracie


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Introduction

5

A Partnership for Democracy

Te Iner-Parliamenary Union (IPU) renghendemocracy hrough he iniuion of parliamenTe aainmen of gender equaliy and he full par-icipaion of women in deciion making are key in-dicaor of democracy Te involvemen of women

in all apec of poliical life produce more equia-ble ocieie and deliver a ronger and more repre-enaive democracy

Parliamen remain he peak legilaive rucurehe world over, he place where a counry policy di-recion i e A ruly democraic parliamen refleche view and inere of he ociey from which ii drawn, in i compoiion and i agenda eingand policy direcion A repreenaive parliamenalo allow he differen experience of men and

women o affec he ocial, poliical and economicfuure of ociey

In 1997, he IPU conolidaed i view and experi-ence of women poliical paricipaion in he Uni-veral Declaraion of Democracy, Aricle 4 of whichexplicily endore he link beween democracy anda genuine parnerhip beween men and womenin he managemen of public affair Ti princi-ple ha informed he work of he IPU for he padecade Te IPU aim o increae underanding of

he facor affecing women acce o parliamen,idenify way o enhance heir effecivene by up-

poring and renghening women inpu o parlia-men and help parliamen o mainream genderequaliy in heir work

A par of i ongoing effor o foer a poliical

parnerhip beween men and women, he IPU col-lec and analye daa on women poliical parici-paion and heir experience of public life and, baedon he reul of uch udie, raie awarene of he

work ill o be done Ti udy form he morecen conribuion o ha effor

Te work of he IPU in hi area over he pa 30year ha been underpinned by a greaer promi-nence of gender equaliy iue on he inernaionalagenda Since he fir Unied Naion World Con-

ference on Women in Mexico Ciy in 1975, hereha been an increaing focu on women repreena-ion in, and impac on, deciion-making rucureTi focu, however, ha no een an accompanyingincreae in he repreenaion of women in parlia-menin 1975 women accouned for 109 per-cen of parliamenarian worldwide; by he Second

World Conference on Women in Nairobi in 1985he proporion wa 119 percen Te Nairobi con-ference aw he beginning of more uained acionoward equaliy in deciion-making rucure a

governmen and parliamen pledged o promoegender equaliy in all area of poliical life

Chapter 1

Introduction

We believe ha rue equaliy beween he exe can only be achieved ifboh women and men pull force ogeher o break he barrier of age-oldbelief ha women and men have differen role o play and herefore havean unequal and in ociey A man of qualiy hould no fear womenwho eek equaliy

Mr. Mos Tjitendero, Chair of the IPU Gender Partnership Group (2000-2002) and Speakerof the National Assembly of Namibia (1990-2004)


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Te commimen and pledge of ae o promoegender equaliy were olidified in he Beijing Plan of

Acion ha wa adoped a he Fourh World Con-ference on Women in 1995 Sae were called on oincreae women capaciy o paricipae in deciionmaking and leaderhip, and o ake concree epand implemen pecial meaure o enure womenacce o and full paricipaion in power rucureuch a parliamen

Te commimen o enuring he equal paricipaionof women and men in poliical life alo find expre-ion in he 1979 Convenion on he Eliminaion of

All Form of Dicriminaion again Women, whichha received near univeral endoremen In 2000,he Unied Naion alo recognized he cenral roleof women in developmen in he Millennium De-velopmen Goal, which ha he empowermen of

women a one of i meaurable goal Te propor-ion of ea held by women in parliamen i oneof he key indicaor in meauring progre in hiregard

Redefining the PoliticalAgenda

Hiorically, women have been idelined from herucure of governance ha deermine poliical

and legilaive prioriie Te legiimacy of polii-cal agenda ha do no include he view of hoeaffeced, however, mu be queioned Alhough

women acce ha increaed eadily in he padecade, in 2008 hey occupy le han 18 percen ofparliamenary ea worldwide

Te advancemen of women goe hand in hand wihhe overall developmen of ociey and conribueo beer and more effecive governance A rongerpreence of women in parliamen will allow new

concern o be highlighed on poliical agenda; andnew prioriie o be pu ino pracice hrough headopion and implemenaion of policie and lawTe incluion of he perpecive and inere of

women i a prerequiie for democracy and conrib-ue o good governance

Ulimaely, parliamen and heir member mubecome gender-eniive; and defining and imple-mening a common plaform for gender equaliycan only be done hrough a parnerhip beween

men and women Widepread accepance ha par-liamen mu include he view of boh women

and men make i appropriae o conider womenexperience in parliamen and o examine whereand how women are making heir preence fel Ahe ame ime, aenion mu be paid o he facorha influence he paricipaion of women, and oidenifying and removing any barrier o heir fullparicipaion in hee iniuion

About this Report

Reearch and daa on women in poliic are crucialbecaue hey provide he bai for naional, regional,and inernaional policie and raegie deigned opromoe balanced paricipaion in poliic by menand women For more han 30 year, he IPU habeen conducing reearch on women in poliic, andha earned inernaional recogniion for he daa

gahered and handbook produced in hi field

Te la global urvey of women parliamenarianwa conduced in 19992000 Te reul are pub-lihed in Politics: Womens Insight(IPU, 2000) Tereul were collaed from repone o a queion-naire compleed by 180 women poliician, whichfocued on women poliical experience and heirconribuion o he democraic proce Te re-ponden refleced on heir experience of workingin primarily male-dominaed environmen in par-

liamen

Several heme were idenified in ha repor, includ-ing he fac ha principle of pariy and democracyare ofen hwared by eablihed rule and praciceha were developed in he abence of women Teurvey reul alo aeed o he coninued diffi-culie confroned by women parliamenarian ineablihing parnerhip wih men, and he conin-ued egregaion of inere and parliamenary ac-iviie among men and women

Ti reearch build and expand on he previouwork in hi field Beween 2006 and 2008, heIPU underook urvey reearch deigned o bringhe perpecive and experience of parliamenar-ian o he fore and for he fir ime include heview of men on hee iue Te urvey wa de-igned o collec inigh ino he facor ha hapedeciion making and o collae concree example ofhow parliamenarian are conribuing o aaininggender equaliy in poliic a he naional level I

alo ough o idenify how parliamen can becomemore gender-eniized by collaing pecific iniia-


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Introduction

7

ive ha have been implemened o creae uch anenvironmen

Ti repor bring ogeher he reul and analyi ofha reearch I i global in i cope, including heview and perpecive of parliamenarian drawnfrom all region of he world Te IPU receivedrepone from 272 parliamenarian in 110 coun-rie Te repor hare hoe reul acro counrie,providing a global overview of rend raher hanregional analye In addiion o he informaioncolleced hrough he queionnaire, face-o-face in-erview were held wih 20 parliamenarian

Ti i primarily a repor of he urvey finding,which highligh he direc repone of he parlia-menarian While oher comparaive reearch ud-ie and exiing IPU daae were alo conuled,he repor doe no aemp o ynheize or analyehe wealh of exiing lieraure on gender equaliyand poliical paricipaion Te li of counrie andparliamen from which reponden were drawn iprovided in Annex 1 Furher informaion abou hemehodology i provided in Annex 2

Ti repor i no a manual or handbook, and doeno eek o make precripive recommendaion forchange Inead, he IPU offer he finding in hirepor a a conribuion o he debae on how o

achieve he full paricipaion of women in parlia-men and work in parnerhip wih men o achievemore equiable ocieie Te rengh of hi reporlie in he fac ha i bring ogeher he perpec-ive and lived experience of boh men and womenparliamenarian from all region of he world, andheir eimonie form he bai for he conclu-ion

Outline of the Report

An underanding of he variable ha affec heparicipaion of women, and men, in parliamen icenral o developing raegie o enhance heir in-pu and abiliy o affec he poliical agenda Wihhi in mind he repor ha hree main aim:

o provide an overview of he curren au oftwomen and men in parliamen, and o highlighhe opporuniie and obacle encounered inacceing parliamen;

o ae wheher he poliical prioriie oft women and men differ, and idenify he way in

which women are making heir preence fel inparliamen and how men and women are work-ing ogeher o achieve policy change;

o highligh he differen mechanim ued o pro-tmoe gender equaliy in parliamen and he iniia-ive o gender-eniize parliamenary iniuion

Te repor i rucured around addreing heeaim, mainly by preening he aggregae view ofparliamenarian and heir peronal experience ofhe queion under conideraion In order o ex-amine how women are making heir preence felin parliamen, i examine he obacle ha womenface in acceing parliamen and ome of he rae-gie ha have been employed, wih varying level ofucce, o overcome hem

Chapter 2 provide an overview of he quaniaiverepreenaion of women and men in poliic, and a-ee he main challenge idenified by paricipanin acceing parliamen Tee broadly fall ino womain caegorie: poliical and ocio-culural oba-cle, uch a radiional percepion abou he role of

women in ociey or he domeic reponibiliie ofwomen; and iniuional facor, uch a he effecof elecoral and poliical pary yem Ti chap-er focue on acce o parliamen, highlighing hechallenge in gaining enry and he raegie ha

can be ued o overcome hem

While raiing he number of women in parliameni a primary concern, i i equally imporan haonce in parliamen women develop and ue heirpoiion of influence o paricipae ubanivelyin deciion making Chapter 3 examine he iner-e, perpecive and prioriie of women and menin parliamen I how ha women make a pecificconribuion o poliic, and ha hey are conribu-ing o he haping of a new poliical agenda I alo

explore he view of men on equaliy iue, andaee wheher men and women ogeher are alliein haping a gender equaliy agenda

Chapter 4 examine ome of he policy iniiaive ofwomen and men in parliamen I idenifie ome ofhe pecific policy area ha parliamenarian havefocued on and highligh example of how womenand men are working ogeher for gender equaliy Iaddree ome of he conrain ha women maycome up again in broadening he poliical agenda,

uch a he role of poliical parie and he level ofrepreenaion of women in parliamen I alo a-


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8

ee wheher he number of women in parliamenreally maer and if he numerical repreenaion of

women i linked o heir ubanive repreenaion

Chapter 5 examine he exen o which parlia-men are becoming more gender-eniive by cre-

aing new rule, pracice and rucure ha re-pond o he need of women and men I focueon he iniuion of parliamenhe organizaion,he rule, he procee and he rucure hrough

which poliic i done Male dominance in parlia-men creae anoher e of poenial challenge for

women, bu challenge ha hey have already beguno confron Te chaper examine ome of he pro-cedural change, uch a change o iing ime inparliamen; and he iniuional change, uch ahe eablihmen of commiee on gender equaliy,

which are helping o develop a more gender-eni-

ive parliamenary environmen

Depie he fac ha here are no pecific indica-or for meauring he impac of women, i i clearha heir preence ha brough abou ignificanchange o poliic However, i i alo apparen hamuch remain o be done Chapter 6 conclude byproviding ome uggeion for a fuure agenda forparliamenary acion for gender equaliy I ideni-fie he view of parliamenarian on he nex epneeded o promoe gender equaliy in parliamen

Ulimaely, a gender equaliy perpecive can onlyreul from he incluion of he view and experi-ence of boh men and women and by conideringhe effec of law and policie on boh halve of hepopulaion Parliamen and heir member mubecome gender-eniive; and defining and imple-mening a common plaform for gender equaliycan only be done hrough a parnerhip beweenmen and women I i hoped ha hi repor willconribue o foering uch a parnerhip

Parliamentary Profiling:About the Respondents

Numbers and Origin of Respondents

Beween 2006 and 2008, he IPU colleced urveyrepone from 272 reponden from 110 coun-rie and conduced inerview wih a furher 20parliamenarian Te counrie and parliamen

from which he reponden were drawn are liedin Annex 1 Fory percen of he urvey reponden

are male, making hi repor a reflecion of he per-pecive of boh men and women on he queionof gender equaliy in poliic Ti wa one of heprincipal aim of hi reearch projec

Te reponden were drawn from all region of heworld, wih he highe repreenaion from Europe,a 38 percen; followed by Africa, 25 percen; Aiaand he Pacific, 15 percen; he America, 12 per-cen; and he Arab Sae, 10 percen Ti ecionprovide an overview of he reponden: who heyare and where hey come from I alo provide anapho of parliamenarian around he world

Age of Parliamentarians

Te aggregae repone o he urvey confirm hecommon belief ha parliamenarian end o be

older han middle age Nearly 60 percen of re-ponden were over 50 year of age, wih no ignifi-can variaion beween men and women However,of he hree percen of parliamenarian beween 70and 80 year of age, all were male Ju over 10 per-cen of reponden were aged beween 30 and 40year, and le han one percen were aged beween20 and 30 year Ti may ugge ha parliamen-ary poliic hold lile inere for young people,or perhap ha hey encouner many obacle o

winning a parliamenary ea

1% 1%

10%

7%

0%

10%

31%

29%

40%

35%

20%

18%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40%

Male

Female

70-8060-7050-6040-5030-4020-30

Figure 1.1: The Age o Parliamentarians

Civil Status

Te va majoriy of he parliamenarian are mar-ried or cohabiing: 68 percen of women repond-


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Introduction

9

en were in hi caegory and 87 percen of menOverall, 12 percen of reponden were divorced,

widowed or eparaed and 12 percen ingle Tereare obviou difference beween men and women inhee caegorie (ee Figure 12) Women are morehan wice a likely o be divorced, widowed or epa-raed: 16 percen of women reponden a oppoedo 6 percen of men In addiion, women are morehan wice a likely o be ingle: 15 percen of wom-en reponden a oppoed o 7 percen of men

0

20

40

60

80

100%

Other

Div

orced/

wid

owed

/

separated

Sin

gle

Married

/

coh

abitin

g

68%

87%

15%

7%

16%

6%

1% 0%

Male

Female

Figure 1.2: The Civil Status o Parliamentarians

Dependents

Tiry percen of he parliamenarian indicaed hahey have five or more dependen, wih he higheconcenraion among parliamenarian from Africaand he Arab Sae Only wo percen of repond-en from Europe have five or more dependen Ii alo more likely ha men will have hi numberof dependen: 35 percen of men a oppoed o 27

percen of women

Overall, 17 percen of he parliamenarian havehree or four dependen, and 22 percen have wo,

wih no ignifican variaion beween he exeTireen percen of reponden indicaed hahey have one dependen: 19 percen of men and8 percen of women However, a noiceable varia-ion emerge beween women and men in he nodependen caegory While 19 percen of parliamen-arian have no dependen, hi i far more com-

mon among women: 28 percen of women a op-poed o 6 percen of men

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35%Male

Female

5ormore43210

28%

6%

8%

19%

21%22%

11%10%

5%

8%

27%

35%

Figure 1.3: The Number o Dependents o Parliamentarians

In um, nearly one-hird of women parliamenar-ian urveyed have no dependen, and hey are fourime more likely o have no dependen han men

When aken ogeher wih he finding ha womenare more han wice a likely o be ingle han men,hi may ugge ha parliamenary career end ohold greaer appeal o ingle women or women wihno familie, or ha heir children are beyond de-pendency age Pu differenly, i ugge ha wom-

en wih family reponibiliie may be le likely opurue a parliamenary career

Levels of Educational Attainment

Nearly half of all he parliamenarian urveyed havea pograduae univeriy degree A furher one-hird have a univeriy or polyechnic degree, while13 percen have compleed oher form of highereducaion and ju five percen of reponden haveonly a econdary chool educaion

5%

5%

33%

31%

50%

49%

12%

15%

0 10 20 30 40 50%

Male

Female

Otherhigher

education

Post-graduate universitydegree

Universityor

polytechnicdegree

Secondaryschool only

Figure 1.4: Educational Attainment Among Respondents


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10

Reponden from he America repored he high-

e level of educaion, wih 66 percen holding a

pograduae degree Reponden from he Pacific

repored he lowe percenage of univeriy degree,

and he highe proporion of parliamenarian edu-

caed o econdary chool level only, a 25 percen

No major variaion beween women and men wererepored Ti ugge ha among hi ample of

parliamenarian women are a qualified a men in

erm of educaional aainmen

Occupational Background

Te urvey aked reponden abou heir occupa-

ion prior o heir enry ino parliamen Te mo

common background repored wa he educaion

profeion a 22 percen, followed by he civil erv-

ice and local auhoriy adminiraion, 17 percen;and he legal profeion, 15 percen Tireen per-

cen of reponden repored poliical pary official

a heir previou occupaion, 12 percen were from

he buine or privae ecor and eigh percen were

involved in civil ociey aciviy Le han en per-

cen had previouly worked in he medical ecor,

and le han five percen came from he following

occupaion: broadcaing, ocial work, rade union

aciviy and home-maker/care-provider

Tere were ome difference beween women and

men Men cored higher in civil ervice and local

auhoriy adminiraion, he legal profeion, he

buine and privae ecor and he medical ec-

or, while women repored lighly higher level in

educaion, civil ociey aciviy and ocial work A

background of employmen by poliical parie wa

evenly pli beween men and women Nearly one-

hird of reponden repored ha hey coninue o

pracice heir profeion during he parliamenary

erm

Parliamentary Mandates

On average, 45 percen of he reponden repored

being eleced from a poliical pary li, while 37percen were eleced in coniuency elecion Eigh

percen gained heir mandae hrough an indirec

elecion or nominaion, and ix percen were ap-

poined by he head of ae or governmen Nearly

half he women reponden were eleced from a

pary li and one-hird in coniuency elecion,

while equal number of men were eleced in con-

iuency elecion and from poliical pary li

Male

Female

Sciences

Nursing

Physician, dentist

Research

Civil society activity

Trade union ocial

Clerical, secretarial, administration

Armed services

Architect, surveyor, engineer

Writer, literary, artist

Agriculture/arming

Social worker

Home-Maker, care-taker

International civil servant

Journalism, broadcasting, media

Education proession

Finance, management or business

Civil service and localauthority administration

Political party ocial

Legal proesssion

0 25%5% 10% 15% 20%

Figure 1.5: Occupation o Parliamentarians Prior to Election


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Introduction

11

Four

Three

Two

One

12%

14%

47%

26%

Figure 1.6: Number o Mandates Served in Parliament

Ju over 50 percen of reponden repored hav-ing been a member of he bureau of he parliamenor a enior member of a commiee en percen ofreponden elf-idenified a belonging o an eh-

nic or minoriy group in heir counry Te major-iy of reponden repored ha heir poliical pary

wa affiliaed o one of he main pary inernaionalgroup: Sociali Inernaional, Liberal Inernaion-al, Cenri Democra Inernaional or InernaionalDemocra Union

Nearly half of he reponden had been eleced oparliamen once or were erving heir fir erm

weny-ix percen of reponden had held wo par-liamenary mandae, while 12 percen had ervedhree and 14 percen four or more erm Slighly

more women han men were in parliamen for he

fir ime: 53 percen for women and 39 percen formen

Endnotes

Sonia Palmieri and Kareen Jabre, 2005 Promoing.

Parnerhip Beween Men and Women in Parliamen:Te Experience of he Iner-Parliamenary Union,in Julie Ballingon and Azza Karam (ed), Women inParliament: Beyond Numbers, Inernaional IDEA,Sockholm, p 215

Idem.


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The Road to Parliament: Less Travelled by Women

1

Women have ruggled for poliical righ for cenu-rie Alhough here are no legal barrier o womenvoing or anding for elecion, i i clear ha ig-nifican challenge o women paricipaion peri

Women comprie more han 50 percen of he poolof hoe eligible o and for elecion and hold poli-ical offi ce in mo counrie, bu ha proporion ino refleced in he compoiion of deciion-makingbodie In 2008, le han 18 percen of all he legi-laor in parliamen around he world are women

A decade earlier, in 1997, women held le han 12percen of parliamenary ea worldwide A hilow rae of change pariy beween men and womenin parliamen remain a long way off

Ti chaper provide an overview of he quania-

ive repreenaion of women and men in parlia-men he world over I preen daa on he auof parliamenary repreenaion hiorically and re-gionally, and on he execuive level of governmenTe chaper examine he facor ha moivae

women and men o enerand deer hem fromeneringparliamen, and highligh he chal-lenge ha parliamenarian face in being eleced,uch a pary uppor and he impac of finance onelecoral campaign Finally, i idenifie ome of hemechanim ha are being inroduced o promoe

more equal repreenaion of women and men inparliamen, uch a elecoral quoa for women

Key questions include:

Wha i he au of he repreenaion of wom-ten and men in parliamen around he world?

Wha facor migh deer hoe who are conid-tering enering parliamen, and wha challengedo parliamenarian face in being eleced?

Wha mechanim are being inroduced otachieve more gender balanced parliamen?

Womens Access to

ParliamentsTe rend in erm of women acce o parliamenin recen decade ha been one of gradual bu eadyprogre In 1975, a he ime of he Fir WorldConference on Women held in Mexico Ciy, womenaccouned for nearly 11 percen of repreenaivein unicameral or lower houe of parliamen world-

wide (able 21) A decade laer, women repreen-aion had increaed by only one percenage poinBy 1995, he proporion of women parliamenar-

ian had acually decreaed lighly A new impeufor women paricipaion in deciion-making cir-

Chapter 2

The Road to Parliament:Less Travelled by Women

Prevailing culural, ocial and economic condiion coninue o ac a bar-rier o greaer poliical paricipaion of women Moreover, here i a pa-ive aiude by he elecorae, and women lack he neceary financialreource for elecion campaign

Ms. Syada Greiss, Member of Parliament, Egypt


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14

cle found expreion, however, a he Fourh WorldConference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995,

and he adopion of he Beijing Plaform for Acion,which highlighed pecial meaure ha ae couldimplemen o increae he paricipaion of womenin poliic, including eing arge wih a view oachieving equal paricipaion of men and women1

By 2000, he proporion of women parliamenar-ian had increaed o 134 percen in he lower orunicameral houe of parliamen, and i reached ahigh of nearly 18 percen a he beginning of 2008Te highe rae of increae in women repreen-

aion ha been regiered in he pa decade Teglobal figure conceal ome inereing naional andregional nuance, however While ome ae havemade ignifican progre, oher have remainedaic or even regreed

A he regional level (Figure 21), he Nordic coun-rie have conienly mainained he highe over-all average during he pa decade In 2008, morehan 41 percen of parliamenary ea were held by

women in ha region Significan ride have been

made in he America and in Europe, oo, wherewomen repreenaion hover around 20 percen

on average in each region, up eigh poin from adecade before Progre ha coninued in Africa and

in Aia, and overall repreenaion hover around17 percen in he wo region Te Arab Sae haveeen parliamen more recepive o he paricipaionof women, even hough he overall average i lehen 10 percen for women member Progre habeen low in he Pacific, in paricular in he PacificIland Sae, where women paricipaion in parlia-men i he excepion raher han he rule Severalae have no women member a all

Tere are 20 counrie where women hold 30 per-

cen or more of he ea in lower or ingle cham-ber, four of which have a lea 40 percen womenmember Rwanda coninue o op he ranking

wih nearly 49 percen women member, followedby Sweden, 47 percen; Finland, 415 percen; and

Argenina, 40 percen Of hoe counrie above he30 percen mark, half are developing counrie andmore han hree-quarer have an elecoral quoafor women in place A he oher end of he cale,one-hird of parliamen have le han 10 percen

women member, including 17 parliamen wih

le han hree per cen and even wih no women aall in he legilaure2

Table 2.1: Women in Parliament, 19452008

1945 1965 1975 1985 1995 2000 2008

Number of parliamen 26 94 115 136 176 177 189

Percenage of Womenrepreenaive (lower houeor unicameral)

30 81 109 120 116 134 179

Percenage of Womenrepreenaive (upperhoue)

22 93 105 127 94 107 167


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15

Women in Government

A he execuive level, progre ha alo been pachyOverall, 16 percen of minierial porfolio are heldby women in 2008 In hree counrie, Finland,Grenada and Norway, women hold more han 50percen of he minierial po Tere are 22 coun-

rie in which women hold 30 percen or more ofhe minierial po Tee are found in Europe andhe America Progre ha been mo marked in heNordic region and in he America, mirroring hepaern of increaed acce by women o parliamenin he pa decade A he boom end of he cale,eigh counrie have le han five percen womenminier, and 13 counrie have no women a allin cabine poiion4 Women are a minoriy in hehighe poiion of he Sae Of he 150 Head ofSae a he ar of 2008, only even (47%) were

women Only eigh of he world 192 governmen(42%) were headed by women

Te number highlighed above are he reul ofdecade of ruggle for increaed acce by women opoliic While here ha been ome noable progre,paricularly in he pa decade, poliic remain inhe hand of men I i apparen ha women illface barrier in acceing poliic, and increaing henumber of women in deciion-making bodie i juhe fir ep in enuring ha he poliical agenda i

decided joinly by men and women I i neceary oconider he barrier ha parliamenarian perceive

o be in place for hoe aemping o gain acce

o parliamen, and parliamenarian perpecive

on how hee migh be overcome Idenifying he

channel hrough which reponden enered parlia-

men, and heir moivaion for going ino poliic,

provide a ueful backdrop

Entering the Realm of

Parliament

Women comprie more han 50 percen of he pool

of hoe eligible o and for elecion and hold poli-

ical office in mo counrie However, only a mall

proporion of hoe eligible conider puing hem-

elve forward for elecion o parliamen Tere are

many facor ha affec a poenial candidae deci-

ion o cone an elecion and ener parliamen, in-cluding moivaional facor, peronal ambiion, fi-

nancial commimen, he likelihood of winning and

acce o poliical power Calculaion are affeced by

a poenial candidae percepion of wheher here

are ubanial opening for new candidae, by how

friendly he poliical environmen i o heir candi-

dacy and by an eimaion of he reource needed

o cone an elecion5 By way of background, hi

ecion examine he moivaion, channel of enry

and perceived deerren o becoming a parliamen-arian idenified by he reponden

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

2008

1995

Nordic countries

Europe (includingNordic countries)

Americas

Europe (excludingNordic countries)

Sub-Saharan Arica

Asia

Pacifc (including Australiaand New Zealand)

Arab States

Pacifc (excludingAustralia and New Zealand)

World

0%

11,3%17,7%

2,5%2,5%

4,3%9,6%

7,7%12,9%

13,2%16,9%

9,8%17,3%

10,7%19%

12,7%20,7%

13,2%20,9%

36,4%41,4%

Figure 2.1: World and Regional Averages o Women in Parliaments, 199520083


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16

Motivation for becoming a ParliamentaryCandidate

Te urvey aked reponden abou heir moiva-ion for becoming parliamenary candidae (a-ble 22) Overall, he ronge moivaion for boh

women and men wa ha hey waned o erve heir

counry For women, he nex ronge moivaionwa o improve he live of women, followed cloelyby improving he live of he communiy in whichhey live, and being involved in he deciion haaffec heir live For men, he econd ronge mo-ivaion wa o improve he communiy in whichhey live Improving he live of men and he liveof women cored equally among male reponden,ogeher wih waning o be involved in he deci-ion ha affec heir live For boh he women andhe men reponden, being aked o and by heir

poliical parie or encouragemen by heir family,friend or communiy cored he lowe

Channel of Entry into Politics

Parliamenarian were hen aked abou heir mainchannel of enry ino poliic Nearly wo-hird ofparliamenarian highlighed poliical pary aciviya heir main channel of enry, a migh be expec-ed However, i i a ronger variable for men han

women, wih wo-hird of male reponden ciingi a he main channel a oppoed o ju over half

of female reponden Women are finding oher

avenue ino poliic han he radiional poliicalpary roue

Male

Female

0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80%

Other

Family connections

Member o sub-nationallegislature: provincial

or state level

Member o localor district council

Non-governmentalorganization(name them)

Social work

Trade union activity

Political party activity

20 40 60

Figure 2.2: Channel o Entry into Politics

Te nex mo cied channel ino poliic werememberhip of a local or diric council, 18 percen;

working wih non-governmenal organizaion, 17percen; and ocial work, 16 percen Nearly wicea many women (20% a oppoed o 11%) a menenered poliic hrough civil ociey and non-gov-ernmenal organizaion (NGO) aciviy Te mainorganizaion cied by female reponden includehoe focuing on women and children righ or

human righ, uggeing ha women acivim in

Among Women Reponden

I waned o erve my counry 37

I waned o improve he live ofwomen

36

I waned o improve he communiywhere I live

34

I waned o be involved in he deci-ion ha affec my life

33

I waned o improve he live of men 32

I wa encouraged by my family,friend or communiy

30

I wa aked o and by my poliicalpary

29

Among Male Reponden

I waned o erve my counry 38

I waned o improve he communiywhere I live

33

I waned o improve he live of men 30

I waned o improve he live ofwomen

30

I waned o be involved in he deci-ion ha affec my life

30

I wa aked o and by my poliicalpary

29

I wa encouraged by my family,friend or communiy

28

Table 2.2: Motivation or becoming a Parliamentary Candidate

The score indicates the average level o activity that respondents attached to each o the policy areas on a our-point scale, where agreat deal was scored as 4; a air amount as 3; not very much as 2; and none as 1.


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17

civil ociey and leaderhip in non-governmenal or-ganizaion provide an imporan avenue, and evenraining ground, for women o ener ino poliic,

which i conien wih previou urvey reearch6Few parliamenarian, however, idenified eneringnaional poliic from he ub-naional, provincialor local level, which ugge ha hee channelhave no really erved a a raining ground for poli-ic a he naional level Few idenified rade unionaciviy or family connecion a heir roue inoparliamen

Deterrents to Entering Politics

Te deciion o ener poliic i influenced by a rangeof facor and a number of deerren are perceivedby poenial candidae Reponden were aked oidenify he facor hey conidered o be he larg-

e deerren o enering poliic Differen anwerwere provided by male and female reponden (a-ble 23) Overall, reponden idenified lack of up-por from he elecorae a he ingle mo impor-an deerren for men Ti wa followed by a lackof financial reource, a lack of uppor from polii-cal parie and a lack of experience of repreenaivefuncion uch a public peaking or coniuencyrelaion

Overall, reponden idenified domeic reponi-biliie a mo imporan deerren for women Tiuppor convenional hinking ha women findi more difficul o balance heir family live wihpoliical reponibiliie, and ha hey may ofenembark on a poliical career a a laer age in heirlive (ee alo Chaper 1) A women parliamenarianfrom Greece remarked ha:

Women are obliged to start their activities froma different point than men. Tey arrive at thestarting point exhausted, because of other ac-

tivities, such as family responsibilities.

Acknowledging hee differen aring poin,one male reponden from Equaorial Guinea re-marked:

Te majority of parliamentarians are men, withwomen accounting for no more than 20 percent.Most of them are over the age of 45 and thereforeusually do not have to deal with small children.

Tee percepion are conien wih he findingin Chaper 1 ha one-hird of he women parlia-

menarian had no dependen and were more hanwice a likely o be ingle han men I wa ug-geed ha women wih family reponibiliie maybe le likely o purue a parliamenary career

Te emphai placed on women reponibiliie inhe domeic phere i reinforced by he prevailingculural aiude regarding he role of women inociey, which wa he econd mo ignifican fac-or perceived o deer women from enering poliicTi wa cloely followed by lack of uppor fromfamily and a perceived lack of confidence In manyocieie, an overwhelming challenge i he promi-nence of pariarchal and hierarchical norm ha ee

women greae ocial conribuion being madewihin he domeic phere Tee norm infilraepoliic where women are no generally viewed abeing legiimae poliical player or capable leader

Ti in urn reinforce he idea ha poliic houldremain in he hand of men A woman parliamenar-ian from Uganda noed ha: Deeply rooed culur-al aiude regarding he role of women leave hemoally un-empowered ocially and economically andhu poliically No urpriingly, prevailing culuralaiude were idenified by male reponden a oneof he lea imporan deerren facor

Reponden alo idenified lack of financial up-por, lack of uppor from poliical parie and

family and a lack of experience wih repreenaivefuncion a poenial deerren o enering poliicFor boh women and men, ecuriy concern andreligion were cored a among he lea imporandeerren facor o enering poliic

Te repone highligh ha here are diinciveperceived difference beween women and menregarding deerren o enering poliic In addi-ion, he degree o which women and men perceivehee obacle differ, wih women perceiving hem

much more rongly han men For example, hedegree o which women perceive domeic repon-ibiliie a an obacle i acue, being cored a agrea deal, while for men, lack of uppor from heelecorae (idenified a he bigge deerren) wacored merely a having only a fair amoun of influ-ence Ti paern i refleced hroughou all he ca-egorie Ti may ugge ha eiher men play downperceived deerren o enering poliic, or hey aregenuinely no perceived a ignifican Eiher way,hee finding uppor he idea ha for men poliic

i, on he whole, a largely acceible profeion whilefor women, i ill i no


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18

Deerren for WomenAggregae

Score

Domeic reponibiliie 34

Prevailing culural aiuderegarding he role of women inociey

33

Lack of uppor from family 32

Lack of confidence 32

Lack of finance 31

Lack of uppor of poliicalparie

31

Lack of experience in "repreen-aive funcion: public pea-king, coniuency relaion

31

Lack of uppor from he eleco-rae

30

Lack of uppor from men 30

Lack of uppor from oherwomen

29

Poliic een a "diry" or corrup 29

Lack of educaion 28

Securiy concern 25

Religion 23

Deerren for MenAggregae

Score

Lack of uppor from he eleco-rae

29

Lack of finance 27

Lack of uppor of poliicalparie

27

Lack of experience in "repreen-aive funcion: public pea-king, coniuency relaion

27

Lack of confidence 26

Lack of educaion 25

Poliic een a "diry" or corrup 25

Lack of uppor from family 24

Lack of uppor from oher men 23

Lack of uppor from women 21

Domeic reponibiliie 21

Securiy concern 21

Prevailing culural aiuderegarding he role of men inociey

20

Religion 18

Table 2.3: Inuence o the Dierent Factors that Deter Men and Women rom Entering Politics

The score indicates the aggregate level o inuence that respondents attached to each o the actors on a our-point scale, where agreat deal was scored as 4; a air amount as 3; not very much as 2; and none as 1.


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Facilitating Womens Accessto Parliament

Once women decide o run for poliical office, ever-al facor can impede heir chance of ucce Tereha been much reearch ino he differen facorha influence he elecion of women o parliamenTe low number of women in parliamen i ex-plained by a range of facor which favour or hinderheir paricipaion in he elecoral proce, mo of

which are idenified in he above ecion Tere areboh ocio-culural and iniuional facor a playDicriminaory or pariarchal norm abou he roleof women place a high value on women conribu-ion in he domeic phere and in he houeholdIniuion maer oo, be hey he elecoral regime,poliical pary organizaion or legilaive rucure,

a hey conain inheren gender biae

Reponden were aked o idenify ome of hefacor ha need o be addreed if women are obe eleced o parliamen in greaer number Boh

women and men provided heir inigh ino whahey ee a he be way o promoe women acceTee cenred on addreing he culural prejudiceagain women, providing funding uppor o wom-en candidae, reforming elecoral yem and im-plemening quoa, working wih poliical parie,

and providing raining and menoring

Te Socio-cultural Context

Several udie have highlighed ha ocial andculural facor are among he main caue of heunder-repreenaion of women in poliical deciionmaking Tee are demonraed in argumen ha

women are no uied o deciion making, andgender role ha define wha women and men do,effecively excluding women from deciion mak-ing7 Several reponden noed ha men ofenhave a dominan role in ociey and herefore inpoliic, and women are banihed o he domeicphere which limi hem o heir reproducive role

A a woman parliamenarian from Burkina Fao ex-plained:

Te fact of being a woman is already an impedi-ment in itself, in addition to lack of self-esteemand socio-cultural pressures, especially the pa-triarchal system. In the home, their calling is to

get married one day (the sooner the better) andto leave their home; in their husbands home,

they are considered to be from somewhere else.Women are not viewed as leaders.

An addiional conrain i ha women end o beviewed in differen erm o men Sereoype abou

women are perpeuaed hrough he media and con-

ribue o overall ocieal igma abou women Aa woman parliamenarian from Sain Lucia high-lighed:

Female candidates are faced with a peculiarproblem in that there is a tendency to concen-trate on their looks and their personal livesinstead of what they can offer the electorate. Ifound that people were more concerned with thekind of person they perceived me to be insteadof the message which I was taking to them. Tey

questioned why it was that I was going intopolitics when I should be looking for a husbandand starting a family. Stigmatization of the roleof women is a major obstacle, coupled with lackof support from the political party, whether fi-nancially or in terms of canvassing.

In order o begin o addre he culural biaeagain women, one-hird of reponden highligh-ed he key role of eniizaion, educaion and pub-

lic awarene raiing programme Several repond-en noed ha here need o be a change in publicpercepion abou he role of women in ocieieand poliic, and ha for hi o happen, eniiza-ion campaign and civic educaion are requiredTe general populaion need o be convinced ha

women make a effecive legilaor a men Ad-diionally, for women o be beer able o balanceheir domeic reponibiliie wih he ime neededo ake par in poliical aciviy, differen uppormechanim may be conidered, uch a inroducingchildcare faciliie o eae he workload for women

Financial Constraints

Boh male and female reponden agreed ha oneof he bigge obacle wa financial; nearly a quar-er of reponden noed ha hey faced fundingchallenge in coneing and winning an elecion,a a male parliamenarian from Uruguay noed, heprincipal obacle i he high (and growing) co ofelecion campaign Moreover, in he bale for re-elecion, imply performing repreenaive funcion

and viiing coniuen can prove coly A a maleparliamenarian from he Solomon Iland noed:


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Box 2.1: Obstacles to Women Accessing Parliaments

Te obacle for women are: 1 Lack of finance 2 Balancing domeic reponibiliie and poliical life3 Lack of confidence

Woman parliamenarian, Canada

Voing i uually a clan aciviy and ha kind of voe herefore exclude women compleely Money playa key role in elecion and women do no have money For a long ime, elecion excluively benefiedmen Tey hereby gained baion which are eay o hold on o Te nework of olidariy and backcraching exi excluively among men Women poliician experience many form of dicriminaion,and ambiiou women are frowned on

Woman parliamenarian, Morocco

1 Parie mu have he poliical will 2 Women mu ue heir rengh o force ha poliical will, failingwhich, hey mu form women poliical parie 3 Toe who make i hould be poiive role model andencourage and provide pace for oher 4 One mu ar a he local level where women are more acive,

hen he regional, naional and inernaional Woman parliamenarian, Namibia

A a rural repreenaive, i i he heer diance ha mu be ravelled in order o campaign Ti i par-icularly difficul for women wih children Acce o moor vehicle, accommodaion and finance i ome-ime prohibiive In addiion, here are enrenched view ha he job i oo big for a woman o handle

A candidae mu alo have enough upporer o hand ou elecion maerial on elecion day

Woman parliamenarian, Auralia

Tere i lile viibiliy given o women wihin poliical parie, here i a lack of financial reource andwomen face problem balancing poliical life and family life

Woman parliamenarian, Chile

Balancing family life wih profeional life Women have a double or riple reponibiliy: family, work andpoliic Equal pay i ill no a realiy Promoion and uppor wihin pary (only concern convenionalparie) Le media focu on women Lack of encouragemen

Woman parliamenarian, Swizerland

In Auria you can only be a candidae if you are on a pary li Terefore, i depend on your poiion onhe li and he chance your pary ha in a cerain coniuency

Woman parliamenarian, Auria

In Sri Lanka, he elecoral yem i baed on a proporional repreenaion yem which require a candi-dae o campaign in he whole diric Ti conume ime, energy and finance In a developing counry,hi make i difficul for propecive candidae o ener he poliical arena Ti ha become he primaryobacle o winning a ea

Woman parliamenarian, Sri Lanka

Culural aiude Lack of finance Lack of uppor from poliical group Lack of experience in runningcampaign Tee are all obacle

Woman parliamenarian, Bahrain


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Inadequate funding to ensure adequate visitsto the constituency or constituents is an obsta-cle. Finance is important in this considerationdue to the fact that my constituency is a ruralconstituency, and travel costs in these scatteredislands are quite discouraging.

Women, however, have paricular obacle rela-ing o finance becaue hey effecively have o arfrom crach Women have o prove hemelve a

worhy candidae, build name recogniion, canvaand be eleced, ye hey ypically have acce o lepower and fewer reource han men A a womanparliamenarian from Liberia explained:

Te main obstacle is financial; if you do not havemoney to run your election, then you will not be

elected, unless the people in your constituencyknow what you have been doing for them, thenthey will help you in everything you undertake.

I i no urpriing hen ha women find i difficulo break hi barrier A anoher woman from Kenyaargued: Raiing campaign finance i an obaclePoliic i run by finance If one canno raie moneyo finance a campaign, hen one hould no enerpoliic

Several of he reponden uggeed ha moreneeded o be done o level he playing field, noonly beween women and men, bu alo beweenpoliical parie A i highlighed in he cae udy

Women Candidae Ge Shor Changed, differenopion for reform have been propoed Tee in-clude limiing or capping campaign expendiureand implemening funding mechanim o uppor

women candidacie A repor of an IPU parliamen-ary conference on financing for gender equaliyfound ha gran and loan can alo be provided o

ai women wih prohibiive campaign co, anda porion of he funding allocaed o poliical par-ie could be earmarked for capaciy-building pro-gramme for women8

Electoral Systems and Political Parties

In addiion o he ocio-culural and financial bar-rier ha inhibi women acce o poliic, iniu-ional facor, uch a elecoral and pary yem,have an imporan influence on women chanceof elecion Women have ended o be eleced in

greaer number in yem of proporional repre-enaion han in coniuency-baed yem An

analyi of he reul of elecion held in 2007found ha women gained more ea in parliamen-ary chamber eleced uing a proporional elecoralyem183 percen on average, compared o 138percen for hoe eleced uing a majoriy or plural-iy elecoral yem9

Proporional yem end o elec more women be-caue hey allow parie o nominae a li of can-didae raher han an individual candidae, a ihe cae in majoriy/pluraliy yem Moreover,proporional yem provide greaer opporuniiefor increaing women repreenaion by inroduc-ing pecific meaure For example, poliical pariecan inroduce a proviion ha a cerain proporionof candidae on he pary elecoral li hould be

women For hee reaon, here i a greaer likeli-

hood ha women will be eleced under propor-ional yem, a i explained in he cae udy onElecoral Syem, Poliical Parie, and WomenRepreenaion

Poliical parie mainain firm conrol over he e-lecion of candidae o cone elecion, and areherefore he gaekeeper o parliamen A maleparliamenarian from uniia explained ha:

Te electoral system in unisia is based on party

lists, so you first have to be selected by your partyto be placed on the list submitted for elections. Inmy view, that is the first obstacle, especially sincea party cannot just go out on a limb to presentan unknown candidate to voters, someone whohas not proven themselves in their constituencyas a dynamic politician.

Poliical parie deermine he ranking order of can-didae on he elecoral ballo Where candidae are

poiioned on pary li i herefore a key facor ingaining acce o parliamen A male parliamenar-ian from he Neherland explain ha an obaclei he rong compeiion beween many candidaein one pary I i difficul o ge a high place onhe naional pary li While compeiion beweencandidae for placemen on a pary li i fierce,

women are a a paricular diadvanage becaue hereoo hey face bia, a a woman parliamenarian from

Algeria explain: Regarding women in paricular,prejudice, clich and ereoype remain he grea-

e hurdle o heir being placed in an eligible poi-ion on he li


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Case Study: Women Candidates Get Short Changed

Case study provided by the Womens Environment and Development Organization

One of he obacle o women paricipaion in poliical and elecoral procee i he lack of

economic reource Reearch how ha women do no receive or raie he ame amoun of moneya heir male counerpar, even when running in he ame region Finding way o increae acce ofunding i cenral o achieving gender equaliy in deciion making

A repor by he Women Environmen and Developmen Organizaion (WEDO), baed on hereul of a meeing of exper in December 2007, highligh he obacle ha women candidae face

wih regard o campaign finance Women have le money han men and le acce o powerful andmoneyed nework Men are more likely o become money donor o campaign, while women aremore likely o donae heir imelargely owing o women generally lower level of income Whilepublic funding can promoe women candidacie, public funding alone may no be ufficien o pro-moe women ince hey ofen have le power in heir poliical parie, which conrol he allocaion offund

Reearch ha alo hown ha he va majoriy of large donor o poliical campaign are menFemale candidae generally depend on female donor for financial viabiliy and only win monearyuppor from men once heir chance of elecion approach cerainy

So wha can be done o level he playing field? According o ome exper, providing women wihearly money (he iniial fund a candidae require o launch a campaign o win a pary nominaion)i key o increaing heir poenial o raie more money in elecoral campaign and hereby increaeheir chance of winning elecion

Where public funding of poliical parie i available, legilaion could eablih incenive o up-por women candidae For example, he amoun of funding available for elecion campaign expenecould be linked o he percenage of women candidae pu forward by each poliical pary In counrie

where public funding i provided o parliamenary poliical group, an addiional premium could beprovided ha i linked o he proporion of women eleced

Adoping legilaion ha provide pecific meaure on campaign finance for women and genderequaliy in he elecoral proce i anoher meaure For example, elecoral regiraion fee could belowered for poliical parie ha have a cerain hare of women candidae Women may alo benefiif co uch a childcare and dependan care were deemed legiimae campaign expene Some coun-

rie have provided raining for women candidae on how o engage in fundraiing and manage heircampaign reource

Many women have called for limi on campaign conribuion and campaign pending a well aincreaed ranparency o enure more democraic elecion A lack of ranparency and accounabiliyregarding campaign finance can have a negaive impac on women and lead o more fund being di-reced oward men Some counrie have aken meaure o improve ranparency and accounabiliy,and adoped campaign funding reporing mechanim, including public reporing of accoun by can-didae and where he ource of funding for poliical commiee and parie are dicloed

Furher informaion i available a WEDO, Report on Women Candidates and Campaign Finance, available online a

hp://wwwwedoorg/libraryapx?ReourceID=245


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Case Study: Electoral Systems, Political Parties, and Womens

Representation

Richard Matland, Professor and Rigali Chair, Department of Political Science, Loyola Univer-

sity, ChicagoElecoral yem are he rule by which voe ca in an elecion are ranlaed ino ea won by

candidae and parie Elecoral yem primarily fall ino hree broad caegorie: majoriy/pluraliy,proporional and mixed yem Majoriy/pluraliy elecoral yem are ued in 46 percen of coun-rie Te mo common varian i fir-pa-he-po, where candidae run in a diric or coniuencyand he one receiving he mo voe i declared he winner Majoriy/pluraliy yem are diin-guihed by he fac ha in mo cae only one repreenaive i eleced per diric

Proporional repreenaion yem, ued in 36 percen of counrie, are diinguihed by voebeing ranlaed ino ea in a way ha enure parliamenary repreenaion i largely proporional o

he pary hare of he overall voe Voer generally chooe beween he li of candidae pu forwardby poliical parie and campaign end o cenre around poliical parie Diric are uually muli-member, meaning ha more han one candidae i eleced per coniuency Anoher crucial facor i

wheher pary li are cloed, where he pary deermine he rank-ordering of candidae, or open,where he voer are able o influence which of he pary candidae are eleced by peronal voingFinally, around 15 percen of counrie ue ome ype of mixed yem, which include direcly elecedrepreenaive who are eleced in individual diric along wih a proporion of he legilaure ha ieleced uing a pary li yem a a regional or naional level

A direc link beween elecoral yem and women repreenaion ha been conienly found inreearch For example, he overwhelming majoriy of he op 20 placed counrie in he world in erm

of women repreenaion ue proporional repreenaion Furhermore, he average level of womenrepreenaion i ignificanly higher in counrie wih proporional repreenaion elecoral yemhan in counrie wih majoriy/pluraliy yem

Elecoral yem have imporan implicaion for women becaue raegically hey affec howpoliical parie are likely o view he nominaion of women a candidae for poliical office Poliicalparie view he nominaion of candidae quie differenly in proporional yem and majoriy/plu-raliy yem In majoriy/pluraliy yem, where a pary nominae only one candidae, pary leaderare concerned abou preening a candidae who can appeal o he majoriy of voer in he diric Ifhe pary i concerned a woman candidae may face dicriminaion, hey may be heian o nominae

herepecially becaue uch elecion end o be more candidae-cenred

In proporional yem, he pary calculu change Fir, campaign end o emphaize naionalleader and parie raher han local candidae, leading o le emphai on he individual candidaeSecond, becaue he pary i puing ogeher a lae of everal candidae, parie ofen hink in ermof providing repreenaion for variou coniuencie wihin he pary and li conrucion i eena an opporuniy o appeal o differen voer block Tird, becaue he pary expec o elec everalrepreenaive from a diric, he poenial co of nominaing a woman, where ome porion of heelecorae may be biaed again women, are no a grea Furhermore, here can be genuine benefifrom nominaing women, which can be ued a evidence ha he pary care abou women and wom-en iue Even if he pary ha no rongly promoed women in he pa, hey may nominae women

a a raegic move o avoid being een a unympaheic o women


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Finally, elecoral yem are imporan becaue hey affec he adopion and effecivene of gender

quoa Quoa, eiher via naional law or hrough pary aue, are relaively eay o adop in propor-

ional repreenaion yem When a poliical pary nominae everal candidae i i relaively eay

o guaranee ha a cerain number are women, and ha hey occupy winnable poiion on a li uch

a every econd or every hird place In majoriy/pluraliy yem, however, he proce i complicaed

becaue i i no poible o pli a ingle ea or nominaion among men and women A an alernaive,reerved ea in parliamen for women are omeime eablihed

For furher informaion ee Richard Maland, 2005 Enhancing Women Poliical Paricipaion: Legilaive Recrui-

men and Elecoral Syem in Julie Ballingon and Azza Karam (ed), Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, IDEA,

Sockholm; and Andrew Reynold, Ben Reilly and Andrew Elli, 2005 Electoral System Design: Te New International IDEA

Handbook, IDEA, Sockholm

Several reponden highlighed he fac ha obain-

ing a winnable poiion on a pary li i a paricularchallenge Poliical parie are ypically cloed eni-ie and many mainain old boy nework hamake i difficul for women o infilrae he paryleaderhip Many parie operae wihou clear rulefor candidae elecion and are dominaed by maleleader, hampering women acce o legilaureTi i aply decribed by a woman parliamenarianfrom Sao ome:

For the future we must fight for more women

in parliament. In my opinion, the big problemlies with the political parties when they drawup their lists for parliament because they alwaysput the names of men before the womens. Soduring elections, if the political parties do notwin with a majority, the women are either al-ternates or are not in the picture at all. Tereare parties that put only men on their lists, noteven a single woman. Tat makes it difficult tohave women in parliament. But that does not

mean that there are no competent women outthere who can be politicians. Tere are women,very dynamic, active women, who really knowwhat politics is about. Political parties have tobe sensitized because that is where the problembegins.10

How candidae are eleced by poliical parie iimporan If pary rule for he elecion of candi-dae are no clear, deciion can be made by paryelie, ypically men Reponden were aked o

idenify how much influence differen group hadon he elecion of candidae wihin poliical par-

ie Naional pary leader were idenified a he

mo influenial group Te pary nominaion com-miee, diric and regional officer and local parymember were alo conidered imporan, alhoughle o han naional pary leader Te women wingand minoriy group cored he lowe Alhough few

women hold leaderhip poiion in poliical parie,he preence of a few vocal women can highligh heimporance of nominaing women Te openne ofparie o women and heir percepion of women aa legiimae coniuency are more likely o reul

when women are organied effecively and make he

increaed repreenaion of women in he legilaureand he pary an explici goal11

Several reponden recommended working moreconceredly wih poliical parie o eniize hemabou he role hey play in promoing womenparicipaion in poliic, uch a by adoping vol-unary pary quoa, or placing women in winnablepoiion on pary li Oher noed ha parieneed o do more o recrui women ino heir rankand uppor heir candidacie, including hroughproviding financial uppor A male parliamenar-ian from Namibia noed ha: Women hould beencouraged o paricipae in he poliical aciviieof heir branche, ecion and regional rucure,

which would be a good move for hem o be eenand being eleced o naional level

Electoral Quotas for Women

Te low increae in women acce o parliamenin recen decade demonrae ha women faceperien challenge o heir poliical paricipaion

Given he uneven acce by women o parliamen,and o compenae for he obacle hey face, pe-


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Case Study: Gender Quotas - A Fast rack to Enhancing Womens

Representation under the Right Conditions

Drude Dahlerup, Professor of Political Science, Stockholm University, Sweden

Alhough conroverial, gender quoa have been inroduced wih amazing peed around he worldin he pa wo decade Women under-repreenaion in poliic i a worldwide phenomenon, buoday we are wineing a growing impaience wih he very low rae of change

Te Beijing Plaform for Acion, adoped a he Fourh World Conference on Women in 1995,repreened a dicurive hif in underanding of he problem of women under-repreenaion Teproblem i no primarily women lack of reource, bu dicriminaory aiude and pracice Tegoal i no ju an indefinie more women in poliic, bu a demand for equal paricipaion and eq-uiable diribuion of power and deciion making a all level Conequenly, pecial meaure and heue of pecific arge were recommended Gender quoa are one uch meaure

In 2008, around 40 counrie have inroduced legal candidae quoa for parliamenary, regional orlocal elecion in heir coniuion or in heir elecoral law or pary law In anoher 50 counrie, majorpoliical parie have inroduced gender quoa when compiling heir pary li for elecion, o-calledvoluntary party candidate quotas Candidae quoa imply ha a minimum, of ay 30 or 40 percen,of he candidae for elecion mu be women Such rule may alo be gender neural, for inance re-quiring no le han 40 percen and no more han 60 percen of candidae from eiher ex Te mocommon proporion i 30 percen women, alhough ome are e a 50 percen

Are legal or voluntary candidate quotas best?Legal quoa have he advanage ha hey are bindingfor all poliical parie, and legal ancion or penalie for non-compliance can be enforced Te mo

efficien ancion i where a counry elecoral auhoriy ha he power, and ue i, o rejec polii-cal pary li ha do no comply wih he quoa regulaion Wihou rule abou he rank order ofcandidae or ancion for non-compliance, even a legal quoa may have lile effec Volunary paryquoa, on he oher hand, may be eaier o inroduce o begin wih All i ake i he inroducionof volunary quoa by one poliical pary, and hen he oher parie may follow ui, or a legal quoacould be adoped by parliamen

Quoa regulaion mu work wih he elecoral yem in place or hey will have lile or no effecI i imporan o chooe a ype of quoa yem ha work Quoa have ended o work be in pro-porional repreenaion elecoral yem In general, i i difficul o implemen a quoa yem in a

ingle member coniuency elecoral yem, however In anzania and Uganda, hi problem i olvedby reerving a proporion of he ea in parliamen for women

Candidae quoa yem, be hey legal or volunary, only provide women wih a chance o and forelecionhey do no guaranee he elecion of women Te final reul i up o he voer In conra,reserved seat quota systemse a fixed minimum number or percenage of women o be eleced Tere areabou 20 counrie ha have a reerved ea yem for women, omeimebu no alwayalongidereerved ea for ehnic group or religiou minoriie Reerved ea come in many form, bu heyare all par and parcel of he elecoral yem Some define a pecial elecorae which will elec a cerainnumber of women parliamenarian, a in Uganda and Rwanda Oher give an addiional voe o hevoer for an all-women li, a in Morocco, or reerve cerain coniuencie for women candidae, a

in India a he local level


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cial meaure, or pecific quoa, have been imple-mened all over he world Tee provide a fa rackfor women o acce parliamen Inroducing quoaignifie a hif from formal equaliy in he polii-cal phere o ubanive equaliy By implemeningpecific meaure i i poible o enure ha womengain acce o he deciion-making poiion hahey have no been able o acce for he differen

reaon highlighed above

Gender quoa have become an imporan policyool for increaing women acce o deciion-mak-ing bodie When properly implemened, hey en-ure women enry o parliamen raher han leavingi o he good faih of poliical parie and voer Aneimaed 40 percen of counrie around he worldhave implemened ome fo

Equality in Politics

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