Societies prosper when women and girls can meaningfully participate in decision-making about political, peace and security, and economic processes that affect their communities. This course will look at the ways that both men and women can work to advance the role of women in these areas.
Welcome to Advancing the Role of Women. This lesson is Advancing Political Participation.
In this lesson, we are going to talk about the main obstacles that women face when deciding to enter politics. We will also learn about possible strategies to overcome these obstacles.
I am Caroline Hubbard, an expert on the political empowerment of women. Since 2010, I have worked as a Senior Advisor and Deputy Director for Gender, Women and Democracy at the National Democratic Institute in the United States.
The National Democratic Institute is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization that responds to the aspirations of people around the world who want to live in a democratic society. We work in over 55 countries.
As part of my work, I have traveled to over 25 countries around the world, meeting and partnering with women who are finding their place in politics. I work directly with our partners on the ground who take risks and work hard to make women's voices heard in decision-making that impacts their daily lives.
This includes direct training, but also research and development of best practices, such as the combination of tools developed by NDI to address violence against women in politics. Additionally, in my role, I work to set global standards for gender equality in democracy.
Status of Women in Politics Globally
Over the past decade, the rate of representation of women in national parliaments around the world has gradually increased, from 15 percent in 2002 to more than 23 percent in 2021. Some regions have experienced particularly dramatic increases, including sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States region, where the number of women in parliaments has almost doubled.
However, this is still well below the 30 percent benchmark, often identified as the necessary level of representation to achieve "critical mass," a concept that women should be “a considerable minority
of all legislators with significant impact, rather than a token few individuals.” But the 30 percent benchmark is well below representation of women who are more than half the world's population.
According to recent studies, it will take more than a hundred years to achieve gender equality in politics, and this is time we do not have.
2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a blueprint for advancing women’s rights. There has been progress since Beijing, but much remains to be done to achieve gender equality in politics.
Around the world, the full and equitable participation of women in political life is essential to create and maintain strong and vibrant democracies.
At a fundamental level, democracy without the participation of half the population is not democracy.
Women and men have the right to equal civil and political rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international commitments.
Furthermore, when women are empowered as political leaders, countries experience high living standards, and positive progress in education, infrastructure, and health.
Women's participation in political life contributes to gender equality and affects both the range of policy issues discussed and the types of solutions offered.
The gender of legislators has a distinct impact on their political priorities, making it crucial that women are present in political life to represent the concerns of women and other marginalized voters and to improve the responsiveness of policy development and governance. For example, there is evidence that an increase in women legislators results in an increase in total education spending.
In order for a country to experience the full and equitable participation of women, certain changes must occur.
Women should be able to vote, defend their priorities, run for office, and lead effectively once elected.
Voting is a fundamental right of citizens in a democracy. Although women have won the vote in almost every country in the world, there are still significant barriers to women as voters.
Political parties offer citizens meaningful choices about governance, avenues for political participation, and possibilities to shape the future of their country.
To be truly representative, the parties must reflect the diversity of the population, including women. Parties are often the gateway to elected office and therefore a critical entry point for women into public life, and well-managed parties provide real opportunities for women to advance.
Ultimately, once women are elected, they should be able to govern and effectively represent their constituents.
It is not enough to be present; they should have influence and the ability to put their priorities on the agenda.
Clearly there are profound and lasting benefits associated with advancing women’s political participation. So why are women still being denied seats at the table?
Women face barriers to political participation at three levels.
First, they face barriers at the individual level. This includes their confidence, capacity, safety from violence, and their connection to resources and power.
Second, women face barriers at the institutional and structural level, where there are a myriad of gender-based exclusions that limit the opportunities for women to participate in politics. Social institutions, such as early and forced marriages, can cause other limitations for women, including limited decision-making power within the family.
The World Bank has found nearly 950 examples of laws that prevent the full integration of women into the economy. The importance of this situation for women's political equality is that access to finance and control over financial decisions has been identified as one of the greatest challenges to women entering politics.
Third, women face barriers at the sociocultural level. Gender norms are deeply entrenched in every society and create one of the biggest obstacles for women to overcome. Even where the other two levels--individual and institutional--have been addressed, patriarchal gender norms will maintain women’s unequal status in politics if unaddressed.
In addition to everything outlined thus far, here are two additional issues to keep in mind when supporting women’s increased presence in public life.
First, I would stress that any strategies aimed at increasing the inclusion of women in politics requires recognizing that the experiences of women and men in politics are not only shaped by gender, but also by intersecting identities such as class, age, ethnicity, sexuality, and ability, among others. Depending on the context, these identities may overlap with gender to compound the discrimination faced by particular groups of women. Strategies should be designed with this fact in mind.
Second, it is very common for women, in particular young women, not to see politics as relevant to their daily lives and how their participation can influence decision making.
Often the needs and concerns of young women are not reflected in the political leadership or institutions of a country, nor do the issues discussed reflect their priorities. To address this, two things must occur. Political institutions must better reflect and respond to the needs of young women, and young people must have the capacity and input to communicate their priorities.
When women have a vocal role as activists and advocates for issues in civil society, their inclusion ensures that a broad spectrum of voices will be more specific and represent a wider range of citizen concerns.
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