PowerPoint Presentation

Taking office: womens political representation

Where women are in the big picture

Where women are in the big picture

Sometimes it's not fully clear how little of something you've got until everything else around it is removed.http://www.fastcocreate.com/3052190/men-get-photoshopped-out-of-politics-to-reveal-where-women-are-in-the-big-picture

Where are the women leaders?2005: 3.5% increase in the global number of female ministers2015: 715 female ministers worldwide; a mere 17.7% of government ministers globally2015: 18 female heads of state, excluding royalty, half of whom are their nations first female leader past 50 years: 63 nations have had a femaleleader at some point

https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/08/where-are-the-women-leaders/

Where are the women leaders?https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/08/where-are-the-women-leaders/

Why such disparity?Seats of political office are gendered male. Women's entry in most cases is determined by their belonging to elite families.Class and race also come into play.Women and their concerns were excluded from public institutions and were expected to be contained within the household.Social practices and prevailing ideas construct women as subordinates to men, whose voice is unreliable as second-class citizens.

The 10 Worst Stereotypes About Powerful Women (forbeswoman, 2015)

1. Ice queen2. Single & lonely3. Tough4. Weak5. Masculine6. Conniving7. Emotional8. Angry9. A token10. A cheerleader

Womensworkloads

Licia, Italian MEP, and daughter Vittoria Ronzulli keeping children and parents on the agendahttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314283/Licia-Ronzulli-brings-baby-EU-Parliament.html

LANDMARK CONFERENCES ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS1979 UN CEDAW included the provision of equal opportunity for women in public life1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development declared women's empowerment is needed to be considered central to sustainable development1995 Beijing 4th World Conference on Women called for 50-50 gender balance in all areas of society, and in particular in decision-making as a prerequisite to the achievement of equality, development and peace.

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Arguing the case for womens representationJustice Argument: since women make up half of the population, they have the right to half of the seatsExperience Argument: women and men have different experiences which need to be representedInterest Group Argument: men cannot represent women's interests

Women in parliament (IPU, 2015)CountryWomen in parliament (%)1Rwanda 63.82Bolivia 53.13Cuba 48.94Seychelles 43.85Sweden 43.66Senegal 42.77S. Africa 41.98Ecuador 41.69Finland 41.510Iceland 41.3

https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/09/countries-most-women-in-parliament/?utm_content=bufferfcbad&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

In India, the number of drinking water projects in areas with female-led councils was 62 per cent higher than in those with male-led councils. In Norway, a direct causal relationship between the presence of women in municipal councils and childcare coverage was found.http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures#sthash.WYTfBBNu.dpuf

Women in the Ph governmentHega, Mylene. "Participation of Women in Philippine Politics and Society: A Situationer" (PDF). A Paper written by Mylene Hega, Secretary General of MAKALAYA (Women Workers Network) for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Philippine Office, March 2003. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Philippine Office. Retrieved 24 October 2015.Philippines rank 44 at 79/290 seats (27.2%) in the lower house and 6/24 in the Senate (25%) (IPU, 2015)Philippine society's definition of women's role in the community:supporters of their politician husbands"diplomatic entertainers" for their husband's constituentsbeing providers of charity work and social welfare functionstheir maternal role as caretakers of the next male generation of male politicians

Instituting legal quotasBy 2003, 31 countries instituted legal quotas at national level and 16 at regional and local levelsRwanda: law stipulating that 30% of all parliamentary seats be held by women South Africa: African National Congress upped its quota of women in governmentfrom 30% to 50% in 2009.Bolivia: 2010 legislation requires equal numbers of male and female candidates in elections.

Promoting women's participation in law reform by demanding affirmative actionin 1998, research on women's representation in politics, resulting to the launch of Namibian Women's Manifestoactive involvement of ordinary women citizens in drafting the 50/50 bill, further on trained in legal literacy and in conducting local consultations and lobbying activitiesintensive national media campaign

redefining political legitimacy: lobbying for a women's quota in Sri Lankalowest percentage of women in political office in Southeast Asiagovernment's concern was to institute quotas for ethnic and religious minorities and youthconsultations with grassroots women activists, academics, political parties, women politicians and policy makersfund women interested in entering politicskey demand was for a legal quota of 30% of the total seats in electoral assemblies at all levels for women

Increasing women's political participation as candidates and votersWomen in Politics Forumdirect campaign assistance to women candidatesmedia strategy to "vote for women"developing a gender checklist for election monitoringZambia Women's Manifesto launched, published and distributed widely

In increasing womens political participationQuotas do not guarantee that women's seats would not be captured by elite women or women used as proxies by influential menOther conditions necessary: strong women's movement, political parties committed to increasing the numbers of women in politics, conducive social and cultural conditionsBring the public into awareness and engagement that women have a right to political participationA government without women is incomplete, undemocratic and unaccountable