Elections

Gender was an important factor in the 2022 election: it shaped the ways the major parties packaged their policies and their leaders. Three years later, as Australians grapple with an uncertain world and a cost-of-living crisis, how might gender shape the 2025 election result?

Ideas about gender have always shaped Australian politics, although male and female political alignments have shifted over time. For example, when Sir Robert Menzies established the Liberal Party in 1944, he crafted messages to appeal to women, in contrast with the Labor Party’s blue-collar masculinity.

By the 1970s and 1980s, as more women entered the workforce and pursued further education, they became more progressive in their voting habits. This trend is evident beyond Australia (for example in the US, and in Europe and Canada).

How gender influenced the 2022 election

Women’s issues were decisive in the last federal election. The gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of Grace Tame as a fiery advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, and the Morrison government’s poor response to Brittany Higgins’ allegation of sexual assault enraged many women, who took the streets in the March for Justice in 2021.

Read here the full article published by The Conversation on 3 April 2025.

Image by The Conversation

Last year, an aura of possibility hovered in anticipation of around 60 elections that were held across the world. Today, we face the outcomes of ballot choices that continue to cap women’s political leadership at a global level, as the UN Women's latest report highlights a slowdown of equality between women and men in politics.

Moving the needle on political empowerment

Approximately half of the head of state elections held in 2024 had women running for the top job. Out of virtual parity however, there were three times as many men re-elected than women elected overall. In terms of gender, the balance is slightly more positive. While two economies saw female incumbents replaced by newly elected male candidates, in four economies, electorates chose women to succeed men as head of state. However, when it comes to volume, out of the Global Gender Gap Report’s most populous economies, three elected men, and only one elected a woman as head of state.

For the legislative sphere, results are mixed. Among economies with parliamentary elections in 2024, Mexico and Rwanda continue to lead in female representation, with 50% and 64% of seats won by women in their lower houses, respectively. Belgium, Iceland, Senegal, South Africa, and the UK, achieved just over 40% of female representation. However, 80% of legislatures elected in 2024 selected men to the role of speaker, keeping legislative leadership overwhelmingly male.

Most countries have tackled the lack of female representation in their political decision-making by implementing legal candidate quotas. While this approach increased the proportion of female candidates, no major impacts have been observed on the proportional representation among elected officials. Notably, only two economies achieved higher percentages of elected women compared to female candidates.

Click here to read the full article published by the World Economic Forum on 17 March 2025.

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Ahead of 2024, political experts and commentators were calling this “the year of democracy”. It was deemed a “make or break year”, as around 1.5 billion people went to the polls in more than 50 countries, which held significant elections.

For women, who are already underrepresented in global politics, there were some critical victories and losses. 

Based on statistics from UN Women alongside current election updates, Women’s Agenda has calculated there are 30 countries where 31 women serve as Heads of State and/or Government. Just 20 countries have a woman Head of State, and 17 countries have a woman Head of Government.

At the current rate, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years.

As authoritarianism is on the rise worldwide as well, national elections grappled with challenges involving voter participation, free speech, and electoral independence. 

Here’s a look back at some of this year’s most influential election results for women.

Read here the full article published by the Women’s Agenda on 16 December 2024.

Image by Women’s Agenda

In the final week of the US presidential election campaign, there is a real possibility a woman will make it into the top job. But why has it taken so long – and has Kamala Harris got what it takes to make history?

My research examines celebrated women in history and how, collectively, they represent women’s changing status in society. In particular, I have looked for the historical themes and patterns that explain the rise of the first elected women leaders.

Women in politics are generally assumed to be a minority, emerging from a position of disadvantage. When successful, they are considered exceptions in a masculine system that was previously out of bounds.

But due to the complex workings of gender, race, class and culture, it’s not quite that straightforward, as discussion of Harris’s biracial identity shows.

I have identified three broad groups of women who have succeeded in becoming elected leaders of their countries since Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) became the world’s first female prime minister in 1960.

Does Kamala Harris fit within any of these groups? And, if so, based on the pattern so far, does she have what it takes to become president? Or does being a global superpower mean the US demands a new form of female leadership?

Read here the full article published by The Conversation on 28 October 2024.

Image by The Conversation