ipu women in politics lessons learned - time for more ambitious measures
TRANSCRIPT
Women in ParliamentLessons learned – time for more ambitious measures
Geneva, 2 March 2017
Progress over the 10 past years• In January 2017, the world average of women in parliament reached 23.3%,
up from 16.8% in 2007This corresponds to:
- a 6.5 percentage point increase since 2007 and- a 0.7 percentage point increase since 2016.
• Women took 22.3% of all seats up for renewal in 2016. That compares to 25% in 2016.
• 19.1% of women speakers of parliament (53 women). The proportion was 8.3% in 2005 and 15.8% in 2015.
Regional Trends as at January 2017
Americas (28.1%)
• Highest regional average in 2017
• Increase of 15.4 percentage points since 1995
Europe (26.3%)
•Increase of 13.1 percentage points since 1995
•Nordic country average: 41.7%
Africa (23.2%)
• Rwanda – world leader with 61.3% of women in Parliament
• Increase of 13.8 percentage points since 1995
Asia(19.3%)
• Increase of 6.1 percentage points since 1995
• Lowest regional progress
Arab States(18.1%)
• Increase of 13.8 percen-tage points since 1995
Pacific (17.4%)
• Increase of 11.1 percen-tage points since 1995
• Region with lowest average of women in parliament
Highs and lows
• Parliaments with more than 30% women MPs are more diverse: 20 years ago, majority of Nordic countries. Today the 30%+ group includes sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Europe, Arab States and Asia.
• Twenty years ago, parliaments hovered around the 30% mark; today 12 lower or single houses have more than 40% women MPs.
• The number of chambers with less than 10 percent women MPs has decreased – 34 lower or single houses today (as compared to 38 in January 2016)
• Five parliamentary chambers have no women members at all.
Highlights in 2016As a result of the 2016 elections:
• 25% of parliamentary chambers in the world have at least 30% women members
• Three parliaments have 50% or more women MPs in one of their chambers - Rwanda (Lower house), Bolivia (Lower house) and Belgium (Upper house)
• Electoral quotas were used in 30 countries (35 chambers) – with 25.6% women MPs elected vs 16.1% women elected in countries with no quotas
• Women took 23.9% of seats filled through proportional representation compared with 15% through majoritarian systems and 22.2% through appointment or indirect election
Lessons learned
Factors that impact on women’s access to elected positions• Quotas
- The main measures used to facilitate women’s access to parliament
- More often now included in electoral laws than in the past, confirming the importance of the legal framework for gender equality in politics
- Must be ambitious, detailed and include implementation mechanisms
- Trend: some countries are moving towards parity but still in many cases quotas only target a “critical mass” (30-35%)
- Do quotas have limits?
Factors that impact on women’s access to elected positions• Electoral systems
- Proportional or mixed systems tend to facilitate women’s access to parliament
- Where quotas exist, closed lists tend to favour women’s access; in the absence of quotas, open lists give women greater opportunity to compete
• Political parties- Remain the main gatekeepers for women’s access to parliament
- They play a fundamental role in the success or failure of women through candidacy, finance, endorsements, access to resources and leadership positions
Factors that impact on women’s access to elected positions• Political will
• Cultural norms among the electorate; importance of role models and addressing stereotypes
• Parliament as a place where women want to be- Parliaments open-up to women – gender sensitive parliaments
• Violence against women in politics- Gender-based electoral violence, harassment and stereotypes hinder
women’s participation
Gender-sensitive Parliaments
What do we mean?A gender-sensitive parliament is premised on the principle of gender equality – that is, that both men and women have an equal right to participate in its structures and processes, without discrimination and without recrimination.
A gender-sensitive parliament responds to the needs and interests of both men and women in its structures, operations, methods and work.
• Gender-Sensitive Parliaments: A Global Review of Good Practice (2011)– Between 2009 and 2010, IPU researchers:
- interviewed 50 men and women MPs- distributed questionnaires to parliamentary authorities, parliamentary
party groups and individual MPs- conducted 17 national case studies in Latin America (5), the Asia-Pacific
(4), Sub-Saharan Africa (3), Europe (3) and the Arab region (2).- It provides a set of international standards to inform policies on how to
make parliaments gender-sensitive
Research
Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments
• The Plan of Action was adopted by the 126th IPU Assembly, Quebec, 2012• It is designed to support parliaments in their efforts to become more gender-
sensitive• It presents a broad range of strategies in seven action areas that can be
implemented by all parliaments, irrespective of the number of women members
• It encourages parliaments to initiate and implement gender-sensitive reform in 4 steps: Evaluation, Roadmap and implementation, Monitoring and Promotion.
Seven Action Areas
1. Increase the number of women in parliament and achieve equality in participation
2. Strengthen gender equality legislation and policy 3. Mainstream gender equality throughout all parliamentary work 4. Institute or improve gender-sensitive infrastructure and parliamentary
culture 5. Ensure that responsibility for gender equality is shared by all
parliamentarians – men and women 6. Encourage political parties to be champions of gender equality 7. Enhance the gender sensitivity of, and gender equality among, parliamentary
staff
GSP Self-assessment toolkit
The purpose of the self-assessment is not to rank parliaments, but rather, to help parliaments to identify their strengths and weaknesses against international criteria, in order to determine priorities for strengthening the parliamentary institution.
The toolkit provides a framework for discussion among members of parliament.
The method involves answering questions about the nature and work of the parliament concerned.
How gender-sensitive is your parliament… …..In 6 questions
1. How many women are there in your parliament? What positions do they hold?
2. Are there laws to support gender equality? Does your parliament have gender equality objectives and a gender equality plan of action? Are workplace policies in tune with men and women’s realities?
3. Are gender considerations integral to the work of parliament?4. Is the parliamentary culture non-sexist? Are there facilities
suited to men and women?5. Are men ready to shoulder their gender equality
responsibilities?6. How sensitive are political parties to gender?
Sexism, harassment and violence against women MPs
Violence against women in politicsThree characteristics distinguish violence against women in politics:
- It targets women because of their gender
- Its forms can be gender specific, as exemplified by sexist threats and sexual violence
- Its impact is to discourage women – in particular from being or becoming active in politics
(Source: NDI international campaign #NotTheCost)
It can manifest itself :
• Among women voters and candidates in elections
• Against women militants within political parties and civil society organizations
• Against women elected or serving as public officials at national, local and other levels
Violence against women in politics• It constitutes a violation of human rights and fundamental
freedoms, including the rights for women to participate in political processes fully, freely and safely
• It is a global problem that impedes gender equality and undermines the foundation of democracy
• Today, throughout the world, women as well as men are increasingly calling it unacceptable, with no place in political culture
The IPU research
Experiences and perceptions of women MPs
• 55 women MPs interviewed on voluntary base and in confidentiality
• From 39 countries in the 5 regions
• Represent all age groups
• 58% are for majority parties and 42% for opposition parties
Policies and mechanisms in place in parliament
• 42 parliaments (53 chambers) in 5 regions responded to a questionnaire
The findings• The findings reveal troubling levels of prevalence of violence against women
MPs – particularly for psychological violence, affecting 81.8% of the respondents in all countries and regions
• 44.4% of the respondents had received threats of death, rape, beatings or kidnapping
• 65% of the respondents had been subjected to sexist remarks primarily in parliament by male colleagues – from opposing parties as well as their own
• The prevalence of other forms of violence is also troubling with sexual harassment in parliament at 20% and physical violence at 25.5%.
October 2016
The findings
• Such violence affects women MPs in all countries but is most acute for women MPs who are active in advancing women’s rights in a national context of general insecurity or in countries where there is a clear reticence to respect women’s rights
• It complicates the job of women parliamentarians and adds challenge for them to perform their work freely and securely
October 2016
The way for effective solutions:
• Recognizing the problem• Naming it • Breaking the silence
Solutionsexist, others can be found or invented
• Strong laws, strictly enforced
• Strong internal policies, structures and mechanisms in parliament
• Changes in the political culture
October 2016
No. That is not part of the political culture! • Sexism and violence must no longer be viewed as the inevitable
consequences of women’s political participation
• Men and women parliamentarians, and parliaments as institutions must set the right examples and say loud and clear that sexism and gender-based violence:
- have no place in politics just like they are not tolerable in all other settings
- will not be tolerated in parliament
October 2016
